AURORA | Early polling, already taking a look at how Aurora GOP Congressman Mike Coffman could fair against a Democrat in 2018, suggests that the typically red district could turn blue.
In a Public Policy Polling survey, commissioned by progressive coalition Not One Penny, a generic Democratic candidate leads Coffman by 8 percentage points, and his vote of support for the GOP tax plan may further hurt his re-election bid.
“This garbage push poll, cooked up by political opponents of Mike’s, isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on,” said Tyler Sandberg, a spokesman for Coffman’s campaign. “Mike will continue to fight to fix our broken tax system and put more money back into the hands of middle-class families.”
The group behind the polling has included Coffman in a seven-figure nationwide campaign that targets lawmakers in support of tax reform the group deems harmful to the poor.
While the poll didn’t name a specific contender, three Democrats are vying for a shot to challenge Coffman: Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger, tech entrepreneur Levi Tillemann and Aurora attorney David Aarestad. Highlands Ranch Republican Roger Edwards said he wants to primary Coffman because the lawmaker no longer represents a faction of conservatives.
In October, another PPP survey put Coffman ahead of Crow by 7 percentage points, despite an approval rating of 36 percent. That survey was commissioned by Patriot Majority USA, a left-leaning group founded by a Democratic political strategist.
Fifty-three percent of those surveyed in the November polling said they are less likely to vote for Coffman because of his tax vote. Additionally, the survey found that a small majority of voters surveyed in Coffman’s district don’t support lowering the corporate tax rate. Forty-four percent said they supported it, while 49 percent said they didn’t.
On other issues related to the tax plan survey participants were more strongly opposed, such as increasing the national debt. Seventy-one percent said they opposed that. Fifty-nine percent opposed eliminating the ability to deduct state and local taxes.
The polling took place between Nov. 27 and 28 in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District via phone interviews. There were 554 people surveyed, according to PPP.