The U.S. House of Representatives is one of two chambers in the federal legislative branch. House members propose and vote on legislation, which must pass both the House and the Senate to have a chance of becoming law. The duties of House members differ to a certain extent from Senators in that they have the “power of the purse” – the ability to tax and spend public money for the national government, impeach federal officials as we saw earlier this year, and elect the President in case of an Electoral College tie. Representatives are elected to two-year terms, and do not have term limits. There are 435 Representatives in the House and seven in Colorado. Congressional districts are re-drawn every 10 years after each Census, with an objective to get the population of each district in states with multiple districts as equal as possible.

For this guide, I will only write about the race in Colorado’s Second Congressional District, which basically lies in north-central Colorado, including much of Boulder County, along with all of Larimer, Broomfield, Gilpin, Grand, Clear Creek, and Summit counties, and parts of Eagle, Weld, Jefferson, and Park counties.

U.S. Representative Joe Neguse

Joe Neguse, Democratic Party: Neguse is the incumbent Representative from the 2nd Congressional District, having won his Democratic primary and the general election in 2018. He graduated from the University of Colorado with a juris doctor degree, was elected for a six-year term on the University of Colorado Board of Regents in 2008, served as Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs, and ran unsuccessfully for Colorado Secretary of State in 2014.

Currently, Neguse serves on the House Judiciary Committee, the Natural Resources Committee, and the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Congressional Refugee Caucus and as a Vice-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. He introduced 30 bills during his first term, and four have been signed into law (It hasn’t been easy to get bills actually passed in Congress over the past two years, since Democrats control the House and Republicans control the Senate.)

Neguse’s policy stances include:

  • Environmental protection, and he’s sponsored several clean energy bills in Congress while also supporting the Green New Deal.
  • Health care access for all, and he co-sponsored the “Expanded & Improved Medicare-For-All Act” geared toward universal coverage.
  • Election and campaign finance reform, and he co-sponsored HR-1, which called for the repeal of Citizens United.

https://www.joeneguseforcongress.com/

Charlie Winn, Republican Party: Dr. Charlie Winn has not held elected office but has an extensive resume in other areas. He studied radiation physics, studied philosophy in Germany, attended medical school, served active duty in the U.S. Navy, worked as a flight surgeon, and held a residency in radiology.

On policy stances, he says today’s health care idealists are proposing “flawed ideas like Medicare for All,” which he believes would lead to rationing of care. He supports tort reform as one way to manage healthcare costs, and is critical of the Affordable Care Act. He supports 100% mental health coverage for veterans. Winn supports greater investment in infrastructure and STEM education. He does not seem opposed to climate action, but supports domestic energy production as a part of a future energy economy. He supports nuclear power, and notes that it is “CO2 free.” He believes the pandemic showed that the current system within Congress for dealing with health issues needs an overhaul, and supports forming a new health committee, as opposed to having public health covered in a subcommittee under Energy and Commerce. On his website, he often notes that Congress would benefit from more doctors and fewer lawyers.

https://www.winnforcolorado.com/

Gary Swing, Unity Party: His website says he’s a “cultural events promoter,” and he has not held elected office (though this is not his first run.) His policy stances include that he believes each generation should hold its own federal constitutional convention at least once every twenty years. He advocates an end to US foreign military intervention, statehood for Washington DC and Puerto Rico, true cost pricing to include environmental impacts in the prices of new goods and services, and a single payer national health care system. He’s also active in discussions around new systems of small-d democratic elections through the “Best Democracy” Facebook group.

Unity describes itself as a “centrist” party, but Swing’s positions for the most part seem pretty leftist, except maybe the constitutional convention which has some pretty hard-core conservative support.

https://theswingvote.wixsite.com/unity/post/swing-for-senate-campaign-platform

Thom Atkinson, Libertarian: After a quick Google search, I was unable to find a website or social media page for Atkinson’s campaign.

Richard’s Take: Vote Joe Neguse. He’s done his job in Washington, yet also stays active and engaged within CD-2, which is an admirable and proper combination for the job title of Representative. He’s had professional experience in law and administrative government, plus a campaign for Colorado’s Secretary of State and a term as a University of Colorado Regent before running for Congress. Add two years of Congress to this mix, and you’ve got a representative with a wide range of policy and legal experience – plus unlike most of us he’s actually taken part in impeaching a President! Personally, he’s got the intellectual capacity for the job and anyone who’s seen him in action knows he’s super-energetic.

Winn has a strong professional resume, though he hasn’t held elected office, plus his policy positions are fairly boilerplate Republican while he’s running in a 2nd CD that has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of Democrat +9, which means his campaign is probably a longshot. Neguse won in 2018 by 60%-37%, and current Colorado Governor Jared Polis won this district in 2016 by about 57%-37%. Just a friendly warning for future Democratic candidates, not to be considered aimed at Neguse – redistricting is coming and there’s no telling whether the Cook PVI will be as friendly to Democrats next time around. Democrats might need to prepare for tougher races if demographics change, possibly against a Republican with impressive life experiences like Winn, or access to big campaign funding, or both.