AURORA | For his first television ad in the race to win one of the most expensive and closely-watched House seats in the nation, 6th Congressional District incumbent Mike Coffman focused on women.
Released Tuesday, the 30-second spot touts Coffman’s record on sexual assault reform in the military as well as a bill he introduced and passed in the Colorado legislature decades ago that banned gender discrimination in health insurance pricing.
Floyd Ciruli, a nonpartisan Denver-based political consultant, said the move was an interesting one for Coffman, given that Democrats usually have the more aggressive strategy when it comes to women voters.
“I think the Republicans are very sensitive to it, and concerned about it. So they’re trying to establish a defense to reduce the gender gap, or at least hold it,” he said.
Ciruli said he has so far not seen any polls published about women voters in the 6th Congressional District specifically, but that they likely fit the pattern of other state Congressional races, where women tend to vote Democrat and there are more registered women voters than men in Colorado.
Data released by Public Policy Polling in July showed women favored Colorado Senator Mark Udall by 14 percentage over Republican challenger Cory Gardner. That same poll showed men favoring Gardner by 15 percentage points.
“We’re beginning to see men go in the opposite direction by an equal amount,” he explained. Ciruli said men have traditionally been split between the parties, while women have been leaning Democrat since the Reagan era.
Arapahoe County, which makes up the majority of the 6th Congressional District, has more registered women voters than men, according to the site arapahoevotes.com. Of the county’s 316,474 voters, a little over 167,000 are women, while around 149,000 are men. There are also more women who are registered Democrats than Republicans, while the reverse holds true for men in the county.
Coffman’s first ad points to his help passing a bi-partisan bill in the House Armed Services Committee in 2013. That law requires anyone found guilty of a sex-related crime receive a punishment that includes, at a minimum, a dismissal from military service or a dishonorable discharge.
“I am proud that Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Speier and I were able to pass legislation strengthening protections for victims of sexual assault in the military,” Coffman said in a statement promoting the new ad. “We must never let the young men and women who risk their lives defending our country fear retaliation for coming forward against their assailants.”
The ad also reaches back to his time in the state legislature in 1994, when he introduced and passed a law that prohibited state health insurance companies from charging women more for their policies than they charge men.
The ad also includes a cameo from Jennifer Churchfield, a former president of the Cherry Creek School Board. “It’s nice to know someone has our back. That’s Mike Coffman,” she says near the end. She is not identified in the ad.
Romanoff’s campaign was quick to attack Coffman’s record when it comes to women.
“Actions speak louder than advertisements,” said Denise Baron, a spokeswoman for Romanoff’s campaign, in a statement following the ad’s release. She pointed to Coffman’s votes to support personhood amendments in the state in 2008 and 2010.
Tyler Sandberg, spokesman for Coffman’s campaign, told the Sentinel in March the congressman didn’t support personhood in 2012, even though it wasn’t on Colorado’s ballot, despite supporting it in 2008. Voters overwhelmingly rejected the measures in 2008 and 2010.
Karen Middleton, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado, issued a statement following the ad’s release where she said Coffman couldn’t be trusted by Colorado women. She admonished his wish to repeal the Affordable Care Act as well as his support of the Hobby Lobby Decision.
“Politician Mike Coffman can’t have it both ways. You can’t tell women you support them with an ad in Colorado and then vote against them in Washington, DC,” she said in the statement.
Romanoff’s campaign has already released two television ads. The first ad focuses on balancing the budget, and received some criticism for sounding more Republican than democrat in a swing district. His second focuses on expanding pell grants and federal student loans to make higher education more affordable.
The Romanoff campaign will have to step up its game if it really wants to win this fall. Mike Coffman says one thing and votes another… he can be easily defeated!
Mike Coffman is a disciplined man. Some people may not like what he said, but at least Coffman is honest and sincere.
Romanoff is a radical liberal. A vote for Romanoff is a vote for Obama and Nancy Pelosi.
I cannot wait to vote for Obama again and Pelosi for a first time.
Thank you for the extra motivation.
Michele Zh – How can you say Coffman is honest and sincere..? Look at the voting record. I am a conservative and I think Andrew would do a better job than Mike Coffman. Let’s go off of facts Michele!
Coffman is honest and sincere? Mr Coffman changes his tune as the wind blows. One day he kisses the behinds of the Tea Baggers, the next day he’s Mr Friendly to the Hispanic community. Mr Coffman is mostly an under informed fibber that says whatever his handlers tell him to say.
It’s hard to beat the saga of Andy Romanoff’s struggling to escape the “slums” of Wash Park and Cherry Creek to achieve his lifelong dream of renting an apartment in Aurora. His predecessor, Joe Miklosi, did the exact same thing in 2012. But after Miklosi lost, he wasted no time scampering back to southeast Denver. I imagine Romanoff is following the same blueprint. It would be nice if the Democrats could offer voters a candidate who is actually committed to the 6th Congressional District. We can smell a carpetbagger all the way to Denver.
With all the Nations problems of economy, border, immigration, investigations of federal cabinets, and loss of confidence around world that USA would back anyone in future, using attack on women is the last and cheap shot issue for any politician. Women are smarter than that, especially family oriented and all need to ask: Just what have Democrats done for women in past 6 years? Sex, birth control, Viagra, tampons, and all the rest of that, is a personal matter, between the woman, the man, their doctor, and their religion (or lack of such) to make. I say this after celebrating 62 years of marriage to same woman, both still living, and we provided for our own family needs, and for our children. Shame on any woman or man who engage in whatever relationship they want, and want to make it political, or to be paid for my others. And that especially goes for politicians who ride such issues, even while not practicing same issue. Take personal responsibility for selves, and don’t wait for government at any level to make it cheap or easy for you. And the same-pay for women is not valid either, when White House staff have women paid less than men.