Crisanta Duran Rethinking 2020 Senate Bid

DENVER, CO – By Alex Burness for The Colorado Independent. Former Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran, long seen as a favorite to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in 2020, is rethinking that path and is engaged in serious talks about a Democratic primary run against longtime U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, according to more than a half a dozen sources with knowledge of those talks.

What Duran will do remains unclear.

“No final decisions have been made,” she texted on Friday, when The Independent contacted her for comment about the 2020 Senate race and her potential run against DeGette.

On Wednesday, Duran told The Independent, “I am figuring out where I can be most effective, and that’s what’s most important to me, to be in a position to be as effective as possible to accomplish change.”

Sources say she has been wrestling with her decision for weeks. While Gardner is considered vulnerable, the Democratic field taking shape against him promises a tough and expensive primary — and Duran appears to have soured on the prospect of jumping in.

A primary battle against DeGette may be no less bruising, however. Other than former House Speaker Andrew Romanoff’s 2010 bid for Michael Bennet’s Senate seat, it has been decades since a Democratic incumbent for federal office or governor has seen a major primary challenger in Colorado. And none has lost from that position. DeGette has had no trouble vanquishing her primary and general election opponents since she first won the seat in 1996.

Duran, 38, has communicated with political consultants about a potential run against DeGette, including Georgie Aguirre-Sacasa and Jessica Campbell-Swanson, sources said. Aguirre-Sacasa and Campbell-Swanson are identified with progressive politics, indicating that Duran could seek to challenge DeGette from the left, despite the fact that many observe little demonstrable ideological difference between the two of them.

Aguirre-Sacasa reiterated Friday to The Independent that Duran hasn’t made a final decision, but added, “I do think we need new leadership in CD1 and look forward to seeing capable people jump in the race.”

Campbell-Swanson said she could not speak to Duran’s plans, adding: “The voters who are left of Diana are the most dissatisfied with Diana’s performance, and are looking for, and would be open to and supportive of, a solid challenge from the left.”

Many Democratic lawmakers and political operatives see 2020 not only as an opportunity to oust Gardner, a Republican in his first term, but also to install a woman as his replacement. Colorado has never had a female U.S. senator.

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