Some big names in Colorado politics are already eyeing the 2018 governor’s race.
As the Denver Post reports, two candidates from each party – U.S. Senator Ken Salazar and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter on the Democratic side and State Treasurer Walker Stapleton and District Attorney George Brauchler on the Republican side - top off the who’s who list of potential gubernatorial candidates for the 2018 governor's race.
Those four and about a dozen others are looking into the idea of replacing two-term Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is currently in the middle of his second and last term.
After more than 50 years of Democratic dominance in the governor’s office, Republicans are looking to persuade Colorado voters to elect a GOP candidate.
Democrats, still reeling from a loss to Donald Trump on the national level, want to make Colorado part of a national effort to win the majority of 38 governorships on the ballot in 2017 and 2018.
And the winning party will have some big-time influence as the state’s next round of redistricting – the once-a-decade process of redrawing the boundaries of statehouse and congressional seats - will take place during the next governor’s term, something that helps a political party control several election cycles by placing incumbents in friendly districts while putting opponents in competitive seats.
Other Republicans being mentioned as possible gubernatorial candidates are Sens. Tim Neville and Ray Scott, and Attorney General Cynthia Coffman.
Other Democratic possibilities include state lawmakers, Joe Salazar and Mike Johnston, businessman Noel Ginsburg, former state treasurer Cary Kennedy, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis and Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne.
A change in election rules could have an impact on which type of candidate emerges from the Democratic and Republican primaries.
Colorado voters in November approved a proposition that allows independent voters to cast a ballot in party primaries, which proponents say could lead to more moderate candidates.
There is much more on this at The Denver Post’s website.
