Six Democrats have put their hats into the ring to replace Rep. Dominique Jackson, D-Aurora, who resigned after being appointed by President Joe Biden to become the next Housing and Urban Development Region 8 administrator.

Jackson submitted her resignation on Dec. 17 with an effective date of Dec. 20, when she was sworn in for her new role.

Jackson was first elected to the Colorado House in 2016 and served midway through her third term when appointed to the federal post. 

A House District 42 Democratic vacancy committee will pick her replacement, with an election scheduled for 5 p.m. on Jan. 10 at the MLK Library in Aurora.

The candidates who have so far announced their intention of seeking include Dr. Kyle Leggott, a family physician and currently a scholar at the Farley Health Policy Center, also at the School of Medicine. Leggott is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and a graduate of Tufts University (Boston), where he played college football (defensive end) for four years. He obtained his medical degree from the University of New Mexico, where he met his husband, Rob Martin, who was his lab partner and who is also a physician.

Leggott moved to Colorado for his residency in 2016. 

Leggott said his interests are in health policy, including addressing inequities in the system. He said that when he heard the announcement that Jackson had moved to HUD, he was working with COVID patients, and many were there because of “social determinants,” such as homelessness or domestic violence. “It’s more than just our healthcare system,” he said.

Gail Pough, who worked for 18 years as a fire inspector with the City of Aurora/South Metro Fire District and recently retired, is also seeking the seat. She’s lived in Aurora for 21 years. 

She’s a single mom to two daughters, both graduates of Aurora Public Schools. Pough has worked with the local chapter of the NAACP, Together Colorado and on voter registration with the National Council of Negro Women. She’s a graduate of the University of Denver with a bachelor’s degree in law and society and a minor in business administration.

Her policy interests include building on Jackson’s legacy, such as in affordable housing and finding funding to support first-time homebuyers. She also wants to see more equitable distribution of resources for K-12 education and to continue working on making health care, both physical and mental, more affordable, given her own family’s experience with finding proper mental health care.

Pough said she also wants to protect the rights of women to make their own health decisions, and to expand access to unions in sectors where people of color make up a large proportion of the workforce. 

Also seeking the seat is Eric Nelson, who served on the Aurora Schools Board of Education from 2013 to 2017.

Nelson was censured by that board in 2016 for falsifying or overstating his academic and military credentials. As first reported by The Colorado Statesman, and according to a report commissioned by the board, Nelson “falsified his academic history and exaggerated his professional affiliations.” The report said of the four college degrees he listed on his resume, none exists, and that he supplied “altered diplomas in an effort to substantiate three of his degrees. He also sought to represent himself in photos on social media as an Air Force officer, although it appears he was only an enlistee in the Air Force for several weeks.” He also claimed to be a contributor to 40 organizations, but “some of these organizations have no idea who he is, or that he inflated his contributions to include a claim of a board member position,” the report said, adding, “It would appear his inflated resume and academic achievements could have influenced his level of participation with these organizations.”

His policy interests include criminal justice reform, mental health, education, support for veterans and housing. He is married with three children and seven grandchildren.

Nelson ran for the HD42 seat in 2016, when he lost to Jackson.

The other candidates are Debi Hunter Holen, Mandy Lindsay and Lea Steed.

Leggott, Nelson and Pough have filed candidacy affidavits to run for the HD 42 seat in 2022.