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Democrat Mark Williams turns in petitions, tees up primary with Joe Neguse in 2nd Congressional District

By Ernest Luning 03/19/2018 | updated 7 years ago

Mark Williams, a former chair of the Boulder Democratic Party running in the 2nd Congressional District, submitted nominating petitions Friday to the Colorado secretary of state – likely setting up a June primary with former University of Colorado Regent Joe Neguse for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Democratic candidate for governor.

Williams said he turned in 1,936 signatures. He’ll make the ballot if 1,000 of them belong to Democrats registered in the district, which includes Boulder and Larimer counties and mountain counties along Interstate 70 up to Vail. Neguse is going through the assembly process to qualify for the June 26 primary.

When he announced his run last summer soon after Neguse, the Democrats’ 2014 nominee for secretary of state, got in the race, Williams said he wanted to the district’s Democrats have “a real primary” rather than being forced to swallow “an anointed establishment candidate.”

If elected, Neguse, a 33-year-old attorney and the son of Eritrean immigrants, would be the first African American member of Congress from Colorado.

Through the end of the year, Neguse reported raising more than $400,000, while Williams took in just over $25,000, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.

It could have been a more crowded primary, but several Democrats have dropped out, including Nederland Mayor Kristopher Larsen, who ended his campaign at the beginning of March.

In a Facebook post, Larsen, a planetary scientist at CU, wrote, “… I felt it was time for a different kind of Congressman, one with a scientific background and experience who would tackle the critical issues facing us and build new policies based on data and evidence, not ideology. While I believe a scientist’s ability to analyze data and draw conclusions is desperately needed, I have to recognize that sometimes the data leads to conclusions we weren’t hoping for. In this case, the unavoidable conclusion is that it is time for me to end my campaign.”

Loveland Democrat Howard Dotson suspended his campaign in November, blasting local elected officials for staying silent about “hate group activity” in the district. Gun control activist Ken Toltz suspended his campaign for the Democratic nomination in December.

Republican Peter Yu, a political newcomer, is seeking his party’s nomination in the heavily Democratic district. Libertarian Todd Mitchem and unaffiliated candidate  Nicholas Thomas are also running for the seat.

 

 
Ernest Luning

Reporter

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