{"id":2101,"date":"2026-06-28T19:33:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T19:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2101"},"modified":"2026-06-28T19:33:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T19:33:25","slug":"a-costly-scorched-earth-denver-primary-reflects-the-fight-over-the-democratic-partys-direction-but-voters-want-it-to-stop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=2101","title":{"rendered":"A costly, scorched-earth Denver primary reflects the fight over the Democratic Party\u2019s direction. But voters want it to stop."},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Donna Smith ran against Bill Owens for an Arapahoe County state House seat back in 1986, she put out two mailers, along with distributing signs and flyers. Add in door-to-door canvassing, and her campaign cost $12,000.<\/p>\n

Now she lives in a Denver House district that has become a chronic Democratic battleground. Smith and her husband receive more mailers on some days than she put out during her entire campaign, which cost $36,700 in today\u2019s money. The race to represent her, in one of the safest Democratic seats in Colorado, has now surpassed $1.2 million in total spending.<\/p>\n

The eye-watering total almost certainly means that, heading into Tuesday\u2019s primary, the fight for House District 6 between Rep. Sean Camacho and challenger Iris Halpern is the most expensive House primary in Colorado history.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s scary, right now, to think that we\u2019re going to waste that money, at this time, on these stupid attacks, when there\u2019s so much work that needs to be done,\u201d said Smith, 71, who lives in Lowry.<\/p>\n

She sighed, remembering how much her unsuccessful Democratic challenge against Owens, the incumbent state representative and future governor, had cost. \u201cThink about it. What could we have in this district that we don\u2019t have now,\u201d she asked, if the money were spent elsewhere?<\/p>\n

When House District 6 was redrawn in the 2022 redistricting effort, it was for Democrats, or any party for that matter. But the seat has been less a comfortable sinecure than the legislature\u2019s most expensive see-saw: In the three election cycles since redistricting, it has played host to three Democratic primary contests.<\/p>\n

The district, which extends east from Capitol Hill all the way to the Aurora border, has become a proxy battlefield in an ongoing war between competing financial and ideological interests in the Democratic Party \u2014 one where weary voters catch volleys of mailers in the crossfire. The last three primary races in the district, including this year\u2019s contest, have cost roughly $2.5 million in direct and outside spending, the bulk of it coming from dark-money groups backing more moderate candidates.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s enough to buy 7.5 million meals through the Food Bank of the Rockies or a year\u2019s worth of diapers for 3,425 babies through the Rocky Mountain Diaper Depot charity.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

That spending is a sign of the times, political experts say. Colorado Democrats have settled into one-party control in Colorado over the past decade, and that has meant more Democrats in the Capitol, more ideological diversity within the party \u2014 and more opportunity for infighting.<\/p>\n

It has also meant that business interests, which once spent campaign cash in tossup districts, are looking for new places to spend their money and influence policymaking. District 6 is among the priciest of several legislative districts that have been the focus of outside spending this year. In all, roughly $3 million has been spent, largely in seven Democratic legislative primaries, by groups affiliated with One Main Street, a centrist dark-money organization that doesn\u2019t disclose all its donors.<\/p>\n

Colorado Labor Action, funded by the state\u2019s major unions, has dropped more than $900,000 against One Main Street\u2019s favored candidates in a handful of races, and other outside groups have poured in further cash.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been a fundamental shift (away) from spending money in the general elections between Democrats and Republicans,\u201d said Alec Garnett, a District 6 resident and a former Colorado House speaker. \u201cAnd that money is shifting into Democratic primaries because that\u2019s where these outside interests believe that they can make a difference, in terms of the ideology of the candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

This year in House District 6, Camacho, the incumbent, is a moderate Democrat seeking to fend off a progressive challenger in Halpern, an attorney. Camacho won the seat with nearly 85% of the vote in the 2024 election after beating then-Rep. Elisabeth Epps \u2014 one of the most left-wing, and controversial, lawmakers in the House \u2014 in the primary.<\/p>\n

Epps, in turn, had won the seat two years earlier in an open race after beating a more moderate Democrat.<\/p>\n

Why has the district become such a battleground? Part of the answer is circumstantial: The seat was open in 2022, and Epps was a magnet for criticism in 2024. Denver, Garnett said, is also the \u201cheadwaters\u201d of the Democratic Party in the state. The voters in District 6 tend to be younger, and it\u2019s home to some of the state\u2019s most prominent politicians, including both U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and Attorney General Phil Weiser, who are now facing off in the Democratic primary for governor. It\u2019s also host to the governor\u2019s mansion and the state Capitol building.<\/p>\n

Victory in the primary could provide a springboard for a progressive political leader, as Epps once appeared to be. A win might also help set the tone for a Democratic Party still in search of a defining identity. Epps\u2019 victory in 2022 was part of a wave of progressive wins, and the next legislative session featured debates, with mixed results, about supervised drug-use sites, eviction protections and assault weapons bans.<\/p>\n

But Epps\u2019 loss in 2024, after an outburst during a special legislative session that saw her reprimanded by House leadership, came against a backdrop of more moderate victories across Democratic primaries.<\/p>\n

For Halpern\u2019s outside\u2013<\/strong>spending supporters, beating Camacho this week would mean putting a more progressive lawmaker back into what they see as a progressive district. It would also knock out one of the leaders of the legislature\u2019s moderate \u2014 and much-criticized \u2014 Opportunity Caucus, which Camacho co-chairs.<\/p>\n

For the groups opposing Halpern, backing Camacho is partially a matter of defending a candidate they\u2019d helped elect two years ago. His voting record, they\u2019d argue, has been in line with Democrats across the Capitol and doesn\u2019t warrant booting him from office.<\/p>\n

Their support of Camacho is also part of their ongoing effort to keep pragmatic Democrats in office.<\/p>\n

\u2018Campaign has just become about the money\u2019<\/h4>\n

But that higher-level reasoning that\u2019s crystallized into an avalanche of campaign literature has not been celebrated by the House District 6 residents who spoke to The Denver Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a pretty engaged person; I\u2019m probably going to vote no matter what,\u201d said Zach Robertson, who lives in Denver\u2019s Uptown neighborhood. He said he had not voted yet but was leaning toward Camacho. \u201cBut (the spending) has me more cynical. This campaign has just become about the money \u2014 versus about the issues or campaigning on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d looked at Camacho\u2019s legislative history and his voting record, and they seemed fine for a Democrat. He didn\u2019t buy the attack ads against Halpern, which falsely accused her of being a secret lobbyist.<\/p>\n

And he knew there had been a split between different factions in the party, though he said he didn\u2019t understand why it seemed to keep coming to a head in District 6.<\/p>\n

It was much the same for William Thompson, a 37-year resident of the district who was once involved in Democratic organizing. He\u2019s also supporting Camacho, and he questioned the integrity of the independent groups putting out mailers \u2014 which he felt were coming from interests based outside District 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see where some people would be disgusted by the whole process and say, \u2018To hell with it, I\u2019m not going to vote,\u2019 \u201d he said. \u201d \u2026 And I think it hurts the party, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid all the noise, Smith, the onetime Owens opponent, said she wanted to hear about policies that would help her and her husband stay in Denver, even as they age and rely on a fixed income.<\/p>\n

She said she\u2019d heard both candidates speak in person and that she was supporting Halpern. She didn\u2019t like feeling like she was the intended audience for attack ads from outside groups, especially when she wanted substance.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo (they) think we\u2019re stupid?\u201d Smith said. \u201cThere\u2019s a part of you that wants to say, \u2018OK, alright \u2014 now tell me what you\u2019re going to do for us. What is it you\u2019re going to do so that Colorado and HD6, the people here, can afford to live here in a great state, in a beautiful city? What are we going to do to protect that for future generations?\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Drowning in negativity<\/h4>\n

The primary has been contentious. The biennial conflict\u2019s reignition this year has sparked a mailer and advertising bonanza, most of it focused on critical messages.<\/p>\n

Five dollars out of every $6 spent in House District 6 has come from outside groups, not from Camacho\u2019s or Halpern\u2019s campaigns. By law, the campaigns cannot coordinate with the outside groups that spend money in support of them.<\/p>\n

In six days, a Post reporter who lives in District 6 received 10 mailers for or against Camacho and Halpern. Garnett said he received four mailers in one day last week.<\/p>\n

Read more Today in History: June 28, police raid at Stonewall Inn sparks gay rights movement<\/a><\/p>\n

Most of them have been attack ads: \u201cEvery mailer I get is negative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As in 2024, Camacho is backed largely by dark-money groups tied to One Main Street, which generally supports \u201cpragmatic\u201d and pro-business Democrats. Halpern has received support from the PAC funded by the Colorado AFL-CIO and the Colorado Education Association.<\/p>\n

In an interview, Camacho said he tries to run positive campaigns, including this go-round. But \u201cone of the most frustrating parts\u201d of the deluge of outside money, he said, is that those groups go so negative and threaten to drown out the message the candidates want to share.<\/p>\n

He described himself as a \u201cstrong labor (and) anti-TABOR guy,\u201d referring to the Taxpayer\u2019s Bill of Rights, which restricts taxes and spending in Colorado. He touted bills he\u2019d run that sought to protect older people from financial fraud and to regulate artificial intelligence-powered chatbots.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to get out my message, but I can\u2019t control what outside groups say or do,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s really concerning, frankly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Halpern told The Post that she knew the history of dark money in the district when she announced her candidacy in January. She also knew it\u2019d be hard to outraise an incumbent.<\/p>\n

But still, the amount of money \u2014 and how vicious the attacks have become \u2014 has shocked her.<\/p>\n

Her campaign website, for example, launched with a video blasting Opportunity Caucus members for attending a private fundraising retreat in the mountains in October. But now it also features a banner at the bottom declaring \u201cFalse accusations DISMISSED\u201d \u2014 a reference to a complaint filed with the secretary of state\u2019s office alleging that she\u2019d illegally worked as a lobbyist.<\/p>\n

As her website notes, that complaint has been rejected. But an anonymous PAC continued to make the accusation in ads to voters. Earlier this month, Halpern sent the group behind it, Denver Progressives United, a cease-and-desist letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s getting very dirty,\u201d Halpern said. \u201cThere\u2019s no accountability. And voters, and even I, don\u2019t know who is donating to these dark-money groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

She and Camacho are both Democrats, and they would likely vote the same on bills that reach the floor of the House. But which bills reach the floor \u2014 and in what shape \u2014 is the key difference, she argued.<\/p>\n

She criticized Camacho for the AI chatbot bill that, she argued, was \u201ca giveaway to the richest companies in the world\u201d because it limited monetary damages. She also knocked him for a vote he cast in committee that helped kill a proposed tax on vacant homes in mountain communities.<\/p>\n

Other money-soaked races this year<\/h4>\n

If it\u2019s any consolation to House District 6 residents, they\u2019re not alone in being targets of so much spending.<\/p>\n

A similar fight is spilling out of mailboxes in nearby Senate District 34, which covers the northwest corner of Denver, including part of downtown.\u00a0Also considered one of the safest seats anywhere in Colorado, the District 34 Democratic primary has pulled in a whopping $1.5 million in total spending in the race between Andr\u00e9s Carrera, who worked for the city of Denver, and Chela Garcia Irlando, who leads an environmental nonprofit.<\/p>\n

The majority has come from outside dark-money groups, and most of that from One Main Street-aligned committees backing Carrera. Irlando has received substantial support from the labor PAC that\u2019s supporting Halpern, as well as from Conservation Colorado and others.<\/p>\n

Between the two Denver legislative districts, candidates\u2019 campaigns and the outside groups backing them have spent roughly $3 million \u2014 enough for 9 million meals or diapers for 4,100 babies \u2014 for two seats that will almost certainly elect whichever Democrat emerges from Tuesday\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n

The Denver races have been by far the costliest of this primary cycle. But the labor PAC and One Main Street network have also squared off in races in Broomfield and Aurora. One Main Street has also been active in primaries for seats based in Thornton and Summit County.<\/p>\n

While Denver\u2019s Senate District 34 won\u2019t have another primary election for four years, House District 6 could host another expensive primary in 2028.<\/p>\n

In conversations with The Post, campaign operatives involved in the outside spending who declined to speak on the record expressed a hope \u2014 if not quite an expectation \u2014 that the tug-of-war over House District 6 might end after this race, regardless of who wins.<\/p>\n

Paul Teske, a political scientist at the University of Colorado Denver, said the fighting in the primaries, in that House district and elsewhere, may change only if the money and attention are needed elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think with such a weak Republican Party statewide \u2014 we\u2019ve maybe moved from purple to solidly blue \u2014 then the fights that are left are within the blue,\u201d Teske said of Democratic races. \u201cSo the money and the attention is going to get funneled there.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that might change if Republicans \u201cput together a more competitive set of candidates across the state\u201d that gives them a shot at winning the legislature or the governor\u2019s office, he said.<\/p>\n

House District 6 is full of engaged Democrats, said Rep. Steven Woodrow, who represented the seat before the boundaries were redrawn in 2022. He now represents House District 2, which includes Washington Park, and is not running for reelection. He described the primary as a microcosm of the broader moderate-vs.-progressive fight within the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat rift\u00a0is somewhat based on policy differences, no doubt, but it\u2019s also largely based in approach and philosophy regarding change and operating within the system that we have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Woodrow, who has not endorsed either Camacho or Halpern, said it made sensethat outside groups who\u2019d backed Camacho before would defend him now. They fought hard to land Camacho in the seat back in 2024. Why would they pull back the next cycle?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t begrudge folks for trying to protect the gains they feel they\u2019ve made,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But the cost has been staggering, and voters have noticed. Two who spoke to The Post pointed out how physically large this year\u2019s mailers have been. Others criticized their mysterious origins.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is wrong with us?\u201d lamented Elizabeth Pace, a longtime District 6 resident and Democratic voter. \u201cWe have lost (our way), even in this small, liberal, progressive area of town. It\u2019s very discouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n

She supports Halpern but earlier backed Camacho and gave money to Epps\u2019 2022 opponent, Katie March. She said she resented the crush of attack ads, and she got a knot in her stomach even when she saw negative ads against Camacho.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s negative to the point of, I want to put this down \u2014 I don\u2019t want to see this anymore. I will reject the premise on its face,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is bad. That is bad for us in this little haven that we call democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read more Piney River Ranch near Vail to end operations after failing to reach lease agreement with Denver Water<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Billionaire ranch owner\u2019s fence is harming wildlife in a southern Colorado valley, experts find<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since redistricting, Colorado House District 6 has had repeated Democratic primaries — now it’s the costliest legislative race among several pitting progressives against moderates, exhausting voters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nA costly, scorched-earth Denver primary reflects the fight over the Democratic Party\u2019s direction. 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