DENVER – The field of Democrats vying to unseat Rep. Mike Coffman from Congress will get their first look at their chances at Thursday’s night’s assembly for Colorado’s 6th congressional district.
Democrats Jason Crow and Levi Tillemann will try and garner enough support at the assembly to get onto the ballot for June’s primary. Attorney David Aarestad withdrew from the race last month and endorsed Crow.
Crow will have to get 30 percent of votes from delegates at the assembly because he has not sought to make the ballot via a petition drive.
Tillemann will also seek to get at least 30 percent of the vote to ensure he makes the ballot, though he has submitted his ballot petition signatures for review by the Secretary of State’s Office. If they are certified, Tillemann would only need 10 percent of the assembly vote.
At the March county assembly, Crow drew 412 (59%) of the 699 votes, while Tillemann garnered 192 (27%) of the votes. Crow led both Coffman and Tillemann in the last round of fundraising.
Crow also announced earlier this week that he’d raised an additional $461,832 in the first quarter of 2018.
The district assembly starts Thursday at 7 p.m. and will be held at Gateway High School, located at 1300 S. Sable Blvd. in Aurora, though people who want to show should arrive early, according to the Arapahoe County Democratic Party.
Both Coffman and the Democratic candidates – should they make the primary ballot – will have to win over unaffiliated voters, which are the state’s largest voting group, as they are now allowed to participate in primaries.
Coffman will be the sole Republican on the ballot after his challenger, Roger Edwards, failed to reach the 30-percent threshold at last weekend’s Republican district assembly.