6th Sense: Congressional district election intrigue for 2016 piques questions

AURORA |  Veteran incumbent Mike Coffman could draw serious competition again for his 6th Congressional seat next year. State Senate Minority leader Morgan Carroll said she’s seriously considering a run for the seat. Coffman won the district last November after one of the most contentious and expensive House races in the country, pushing back former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff.

The intrigue over this House district race deepens because Coffman, a longtime Republican state elected official, is being heavily courted to run against Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet next year. That would allow Carroll, the current Democratic state Senate Minority Leader to run in the district against a fellow challenger, instead of a well-funded and popular incumbent.

Carroll confirmed she will be meeting next week with members of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who are courting her as a potential Democratic candidate in a district evenly divided between Republican, Democrat and independent voters.

“I’m going to be meeting with a whole lot of folks early this upcoming week to get information about what a run for CD6 would look like,” Carroll said. “I haven’t made a decision yet. I’ve been very state-focused and very locally focused.” 

Carroll, who is Colorado’s Senate minority leader and represents Aurora, has a long history of serving in the state Legislature. She was the second woman in Colorado history to be selected Senate president in 2013, when Democrats ruled the Legislature.

Coffman has so far been able to hold onto the swing district since being  elected in 2008. In 2014, he defeated Democratic Challenger Andrew Romanoff in one of the most expensive congressional battles in the nation by 9 percentage points. In 2012, he beat Democrat Joe Miklosi by 2 percentage points.

Carroll, who is term-limited to serve in the state Legislature through the end of 2016, said she is not worried about a tough race, but about what she can accomplish with so much dysfunction at the congressional level.

“We’ve been lucky. In the state Legislature, for the most part, we’ve been able to get a lot done at the state level,” she said. “Why would I leave a seat where I know I can make a difference and get things done for a seat where that might not be true?” 

It’s still unclear whether Coffman will even run for his House seat. His spokesman Tyler Sandberg said the congressman has a “never say never” attitude about being courted by the GOP to challenge Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who is up for re-election in Colorado in 2016.

Sandberg pointed to comments Coffman made to The Colorado Statesman when asked about Democratic challengers such as Carroll entering the race.

“We know that Nancy Pelosi is dialing-up prospective candidates, and we know that her political minions at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee are in full ramp-up as well,” Sandberg told The Statesman. “Whether or not this is the No. 1 race in America again, rest assured, we will be ready. Whomever it is that finds themselves on the ballot against Mike Coffman, they better lace their shoes real tight and be ready for the fight of a lifetime.”

Carroll’s own seat will be up for grabs in 2016. Aurora Democratic House Representatives Rhonda Fields and Su Ryden have filed to run for it.