Former state Sen. Gail Schwartz of Crested Butte has moved up on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee list of races to win.
Today, Schwartz, who is seeking to unseat U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez, announced she was among 14 candidates the DCCC moved from a list of “Emerging” races, to its top group of “Red to Blue” candidates. Red to Blue is a list of targeted House seats held by Republicans that Democrats hope to flip in November.
Schwartz joins state Sen. Morgan Carroll of Aurora on the list. Carroll is challenging U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman in the Sixth Congressional District, in what has been the most watched House race in Colorado.
Schwartz said today that the boost “adds to our momentum in working to unseat Congressman Tipton. We will win this seat by continuing to connect with Coloradans who support my approach to public service, which is putting community interests before special interests and partisanship.”
But whether being a part of Red to Blue translates into victory at the polls is another matter.
Zach Hunter of the National Republican Congressional Committee said last month that in 2012, the Red to Blue and “Emerging” candidates had a combined record of 7-23. The following election year, 2014, was no better, with a record of 4-36.
At least one top political expert viewed Schwartz’s candidacy as a plus for Democrats. The Cook Political Report, which monitors national political races, said her run was one of two “high points” for Democratic congressional candidate recruitment.
Schwartz was the only candidate to emerge from a field of three Democrats interested in unseating Tipton in last month’s Third Congressional District assembly in Loveland.
Tipton will face off against Alex Beinstein of Carbondale, a 27-year old recent law school graduate, in the June 28 primary.
Photo credit: Gail Schwartz for Congress
