Two Democrats are now challenging Rep. Elisabeth Epps in the primary next year for House District 6 as lawyer Sean Camacho announced his candidacy on Wednesday.
“Too many politicians have lost focus of why they were elected to the legislature and instead grandstand their personal politics instead of representing their district. Good policy comes from working with people and building a coalition, something I have done my entire life,” Camacho wrote on his website.
Camacho filed to run in both 2020 and 2022, but dropped out before the primary election both times. The Denver-based district includes Capitol Hill, Congress Park and Lowry. It is a solidly safe Democratic seat, so whoever wins the primary is likely to win easily in the general election.
He wrote on his website that he decided to run during this cycle after being “approached by community members in the district” encouraging him to do so. He lists support from 11 sitting Democratic lawmakers, including Senate President Steve Fenberg, Sen. Chris Hansen, Sen. Dafna Michaelson-Jenet, Rep. Karen McCormick and Rep. Shannon Bird.
Camacho identified his policy priorities as encouraging affordable housing — including supporting last year’s major land use bill — along with expanding access to health care and curbing gun violence.
He wrote that he supports banning “weapons of war.” Earlier this year, Epps sponsored a bill to ban assault weapons, but it died during its first committee hearing.
Epps won a contentious Democratic primary in 2022 and has been a controversial figure during her first term for her progressive views and policy proposals that often land further left than many Democrats in the chamber. In addition to the assault weapons bill, she also sponsored a bill that would allow for overdose prevention centers to operate in Colorado. That bill was defeated in the Senate and a similar bill could not make it out of an interim committee this fall.
During the special legislative session called last month, Epps stalled House proceedings when she offered a pro-Palestine amendment to a summer nutrition bill and then joined activists protesting in the gallery for over an hour. She has been actively soliciting fundraising to compete against primary challengers.
In a Wednesday post on X, formerly Twitter, Epps wrote on her personal account that she had spoken with both Democratic challengers and hopes they can debate ahead of the primary. She also shared a screenshot that allegedly shows that Camacho blocked her on the platform.
Also running in the primary is Tyler Berthelot-Meres, an Air Force veteran who works as a a flight operations officer for United Airlines, according to his LinkedIn.
According to the October quarterly campaign finance report, Epps has over $25,000 in the bank. Camacho has a bit less than $6,000.
The Democratic primary will be held on June 25, 2024.
This story first appeared at Colorado Newsline. Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit news organization. Colorado Newsline is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent source of online ne