House District 8 primary is going to be close -- very close

August 11, 2:21 PMDenver Young Democrats ExaminerRyan D. Briceland

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Denver Young Democrats Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

For the candidates in House District 8, the waiting is almost over. Voters will finally go to the polls August 12 to decide who will replace Rosemary Marshall as the district's representative in the state capitol building.

The race will end at the primary because no Republican is challenging in this liberal- dominated district. The progressive movement is alive and well in HD-8. 

All three Democratic candidates ran energetic, skillful, respectful campaigns. Except for a few yard signs being lifted, there wasn’t much controversy in the run up to election time.

I attended a debate between the candidates at Smiley Middle School, and each candidate did a decent job of distinguishing themselves from the others.

Beth McCann seemed very community oriented. She emphasized the need for better youth organizations and more outlets to keep kids off the streets. She also stated her disappointment and frustration with the low standards of education and healthcare in Colorado compared to other states.

Matt Bergles really focused on his life experiences as a coach, member of the military, business owner, and teacher as the reasons he should be elected. He’s a modern “Jack of All Things Colorado.” His last venture into public service ended in a loss to now-Secretary of State Mike Coffman. Like any good former athlete, Bergles knows how to take a hit and get back up.

Cindy Lowery is the wildcard in the deck. She ran an ultra-progressive campaign. She told me she expects her platform to become the standard of the Democratic Party in the near-future. The former health care attorney is a huge proponent of single-payer healthcare, and was the only candidate to support equal rights in marriage for all people. If she pulls off the upset, she’ll be a visionary in Denver politics for a long time.

There has been a lot of discussion about the candidates and how the race will shape up in the blogosphere.

ColoraadoPols ran a complete state primary preview. You can see what they said about HD-8, and read the comments left by readers, here. From the most recent poll on their site it looks like Ms. Lowery will run away with the thing, but like we’ve learned in recent years, polls aren’t very accurate fortune-tellers.

The blog SquareState also did a complete preview of the candidates. You can read that post here.