Shimon Blau, a Denver doctor who said he was “saddened and alarmed” by the victory of Democrat Melat Kiros in last month’s 1st Congressional District primary, has qualified for the November ballot as an independent candidate.
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Blau’s long-shot bid began when he submitted 2,212 petition signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on July 9 to run as an unaffiliated candidate. Election officials said Friday afternoon that 1,918 of those signatures were from valid registered voters in the district, above the 1,500-signature threshold to make the ballot.
Blau, who is Jewish, wrote on Facebook earlier this month that he was “particularly concerned by what I view as Ms. Kiros’s anti-Semitic rhetoric and her refusal to meet with leaders of Denver’s Jewish community to address their concerns.”
Blau has since set his Facebook settings to private. In a statement Friday, he said he’d heard concerns from voters about a range of matters and about President Donald Trump’s actions.
“I want the people of Denver to know this: if elected, I will not hesitate to stand up to the Trump administration whose policies are harming the people of Colorado’s First Congressional District and undermining the values we share,” Blau said. “I will oppose efforts that threaten affordable healthcare, weaken our democratic institutions, erode individual rights, and make life harder for working families.”
Kiros, a democratic socialist who defeated 15-term U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in a stunning upset in the June 30 Democratic primary, has been criticized for comments she made about 9/11, Israel’s legitimacy as a nation, and the deadly firebombing attack on Jews and others demonstrating in Boulder last year — an act she refused to call antisemitic.
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Blau launched a hasty campaign for Congress early this month, giving him just days to turn in the requisite signatures by the secretary of state’s deadline. He beat the deadline by one hour.
In a statement Friday, Kiros said: “Denver voters will get a chance in November to choose who they want fighting for them in Congress. I’m fighting for working people, families, renters, tipped workers (and) folks drowning in medical debt who deserve a better future. I plan to make my case directly (to) the people of this district because that is what it means to live in a democracy.”
Also on the November ballot is Republican Christy Peterson, who has reported raising just over $2,000 for the race in recent filings, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Kiros likely holds an advantage in the race for the Denver-based congressional district because of its heavily Democratic lean. The seat hasn’t been occupied by anyone but a Democrat since Mike McKevitt, a Republican, represented it in the early 1970s.
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