Democratic Rep. Jared Polis’ decision to run for governor opens up his seat, which backed Clinton 56-35. The seat also backed the entire Democratic ticket during the 2014 GOP wave, even favoring attorney general nominee Don Quick 50-44 as he was losing statewide 51-42, so Team Blue should have no trouble holding it. Colorado’s 2nd District includes the famously liberal town of Boulder, as well as Fort Collins and some of the Denver suburbs.
It took very little time for potential Democratic candidates to start making noises about running here. Ken Toltz, a prominent gun-safety activist, told The Denver Post that he’s “vigorously exploring entering the race.” Toltz ran for the House back in 2000 and lost 54-42 to GOP incumbent Tom Tancredo. Shannon Watts, a gun-safety activist who has served as an executive at several Fortune 100 companies, also says she’s considering. Watts also made national headlines earlier this year when she tweeted that United Airlines was refusing to seat young girls wearing leggings. The Post says that Watts and Toltz are close friends, though it’s unclear if they’re willing to run against one another.
A few months ago, there were reports that Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies Executive Director Joe Neguse, who narrowly lost the 2014 general election for secretary of state, was considering running for governor. However, an unnamed “top Democratic strategist close to Neguse” tells Colorado Politics that Neguse is “near certain” to run for this seat, and could announce within days. Neguse previously was an elected member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents.
There are plenty of other Democrats who also may be interested. Unnamed Colorado Democrats mentioned ex-Rep. Betsy Markey to Roll Call’s Bridget Bowman, though it’s unclear if Markey is interested. Markey won a term in the House in 2008 from the old 4th District, a conservative seat that included Fort Collins, and lost two years later to now-Sen. Cory Gardner. Markey ran for state treasurer in 2014 but lost 50-45, and she went on to become a regional administrator with the national Small Business Administration. About 42 percent of Markey’s old House seat is in the 2nd District. (Update: This post originally said that only about 5 percent of Markely’s old seat is in the new CO-02.)
Roll Call also mentions Summit County Commissioner Dan Gibbs, Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones, and state Sen. Stephen Fenberg as possible candidates, but there’s also no word yet if any of them are interested. There may also be plenty of other Democrats eyeing this seat.