Is the fourth time a charm? Republican Ray Garcia of Colorado Springs hopes so.

The perennial candidate for the House is taking another chance on a primary in Colorado Springs that will determine who will succeed Republican Rep. Lois Landgraf in the 2020 election.

Garcia ran twice for House District 1, a southwest Denver district where Democrats have held the seat since 1999.*

After getting trounced by Democratic Rep. Susan Lontine by 16 points in 2014 and by 22 points in 2016, Garcia moved to Colorado Springs, but the results got uglier. He challenged Landgraf in 2018 and lost by 31 points.

But 2020 is a new ballgame. Landgraf is term-limited, so the seat will have a new representative come January 2021.

According to records on the Secretary of State’s campaign website, Garcia’s past includes such infractions as a failure to comply with state campaign finance laws. Federal court records list other incidents of criminal behavior, including domestic violence and a federal felony gun conviction.

On the fundraising side, Garcia outspent his contributions in 2018 (a grand total of $1,000) by nearly $3,000, so he starts the 2020 campaign already in the hole.

Campaign finance fines

Garcia is in the hole in another area: he has seven fines from the Secretary of State over a failure to file required documents, dating all the way back to his 2014 campaign. According to TRACER, the Secretary of State’s campaign finance system, he has yet to pay a $50 fine from the 2014 campaign for failing to timely file a campaign finance report. The Secretary of State waived $1,450 of that $1,500 fine (accrued at $50 per day) but Garcia still hasn’t paid the rest.

He requested a waiver for several penalties, including the $1,500 fine, on Sept. 30, 2019, stating that his campaign accounts were “rather confusing,” and blamed it on trying to switch over to an account for his race for the HD21 seat, a switch he made nearly four years after the fine was levied and while he was still living in Denver.

Even when penalties are reduced, Garcia takes years to pay them. On Jan. 31, 2018, he paid four fines of $50 each, levied against his 2014 and 2016 campaigns.

An additional fine of $4,600 was levied for Garcia’s failure to turn in a personal financial disclosure document tied to his 2018 campaign. Campaign finance rules require a PFD be filed within 10 days of filing as a candidate. Garcia claimed he had submitted the form and that someone had misplaced it. But the Secretary of State’s office charged him $4,600, based on a $50 per day fine for every day it was late.

In the Sept. 30, 2019, waiver request, Garcia pleaded poverty. He said his campaigns are almost entirely self-funded or with a few contributions from friends and family. “I have paid for the expenses of this campaign through my own income for the vast majority” of the time, so a $4,600 fine “is just beyond my ability to cover.”

Possession charges

In September 2004, Garcia faced three charges in federal court in Oklahoma for being in possession of a firearm and almost 200 rounds of ammunition while under a domestic violence restraining order, and an additional charge for selling weapons without a license, stemming from an April 2004 incident.

At that time, it was illegal for Garcia to possess either guns or ammo because he was under a November 2003 restraining order from Broomfield, tied to a domestic violence incident involving his wife. The restraining order, according to federal court documents, stated that Garcia was believed to be a “credible threat to the physical safety” of his partner.

On Aug. 8, 2005, Garcia pleaded guilty to being in possession of a firearm while under a domestic violence restraining order; the other two charges were dismissed under a plea agreement. 

As part of the agreement, he was sentenced to six months’ home confinement, to be served in Denver, five years’ probation and a $600 fine in June 2006. In addition, Garcia was required to submit to urinalysis screening, attend life coaching and to submit all personal and business financial information (Garcia pleaded poverty and was assigned a public defender for the case).

In February 2009, while he was still on probation, he was arrested for getting into a dispute with the manager of the Sonic restaurant on Old Golden Road in Golden. He told CBS4 a year later that he had spent $7,000 in legal fees fighting the case, which was over $6.85 in drinks that he said should have been discounted. He was charged with trespassing and harassment.

A spokeswoman for Sonic told CBS 4 that “when the customer did not receive the answer he was seeking from our employee and the manager on duty, he became angry and belligerent regarding the happy hour discount. The customer exited his vehicle and attempted to forcibly enter the drive-in while confronting the manager. Given the level to which this situation escalated, Sonic stands behind its employees’ decision to call police.”

The charges were dismissed by the Jefferson County prosecutor because they couldn’t locate a victim. The prosecutor also said the restaurant admitted he would have gotten the discount had the restaurant’s clock been accurate, and the prosecutor believed the jury would have sided with Garcia, despite his aggressive behavior.

Garcia has filed a personal financial disclosure for the 2020 race. He lists his employer as Golden Time Personal Care, a Cherry Creek-based company that provides in-home services to at-risk or elderly adults. The form lists no assets, liabilities or personal property, such as a home.

Garcia faces Mary Bradfield of Fountain in the June 2020 primary, who announced for the seat on Nov. 7.

Garcia did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Correction: the last Republican to serve in HD1 was Jeanne Faatz, whose term in the House ended in January 1999.