Following more than a month of speculation after she began publicly weighing a run, Senate Minority Leader Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, announced on Tuesday that she plans to challenge U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman in the competitive 6th Congressional District.

“Whether it was making government more efficient and transparent, lowering healthcare premiums to put more money in the pockets of hardworking Coloradans, or taking on lobbyists and special interests, I’ve never backed down from a challenge,” said Carroll in a statement declaring her bid. “I have a record of delivering real results for Colorado families, and that’s exactly what we need in Congress.”

The district is one of the most closely drawn in the country, nearly evenly divided between Republicans, Democrats and unaffiliated voters. It includes all of Aurora, as well as suburban enclaves to the north and south, reaching into Adams, Arapahoe and portions of Douglas counties.

Hours after Carroll announced, the nationally recognized Cook Political Report moved the race from favoring Coffman to a toss-up.

Coffman easily survived a challenge last year from former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff. The Democrat moved a short distance into the district from Denver and made a spirited run in what was pegged one of the most competitive House races in the country, but lost by a whopping 9 points.

But two years earlier, unknown and underfunded Coffman challenger former state Rep. Joe Miklosi, another Denver Democrat, came within 2 points of unseating the incumbent, who first won the seat in 2008 when the district leaned much more heavily Republican.

Democrats say that Carroll, a third-generation Coloradan with deep roots in the Aurora-based congressional district, stands a good chance of avoiding some of the pitfalls that felled Romanoff and Miklosi, while enjoying the favorable environment of a presidential election year, when Democratic-leaning voters tend to turn out in substantially higher numbers.

Coffman responded almost immediately to Carroll’s announcement with a fundraising blast attempting to tie the Democrat to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – a favorite villain in past Coffman campaigns. In the email to supporters, Coffman claims Carroll “has proudly fought for job-killing tax increases in the Colorado Senate.” He adds, “We already know Nancy Pelosi is salivating at the idea of replacing me with their handpicked liberal candidate. They spent $5 million trying to beat me last cycle, and there’s no doubt they’ll try to do it again.”

Carroll traces her Colorado roots to her grandparents, who homesteaded in the state. She says she worked to put herself through community college and then to attend the University of Colorado School of Law. Her father was a state legislator in the 1960s and early 1970s. She was first elected to the state House in 2004, later moving up to the Senate, where she became only the second woman to serve as Senate president, a position she lost when Republicans won control of the Senate in last fall’s election. (Senate Democrats said on Thursday that Carroll would be stepping down as minority leader this week and that state Sen. Lucia Guzman, D-Denver, would assume the post.)

Among Carroll’s accomplishments touted by her campaign are helping cap college tuition hikes at state colleges and universities, keeping down healthcare costs, working to secure military family housing at Buckley Air Force Base, and helping to establish the Military Family Relief Fund to help families undergoing hardship as a result of deployment.

“Like so many in our state, I was raised to believe that no challenge is too great, no opposition too powerful to overcome,” she said. “Throughout my career I’ve taken on the fights that matter most to Colorado families, achieving real results for hardworking people across this state.”

A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Campaign on Thursday blasted Carroll’s decision to step down from her Senate leadership position after promising to “get real results” for constituents.

“Now that Morgan Carroll is looking for a promotion, the only real results she will be concerned about delivering will be for her campaign, not Aurora families. Instead of staying in her current leadership role where she could conceivably make a difference, Carroll is selfishly stepping down to focus first on her political career,” said NRCC spokesman Zach Hunter

Carroll plans to launch what her campaign is calling a listening tour across the district on July 18.

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com