National legislative policy expert Doug Farquhar pulled his name from the running to replace retiring Democratic state Rep. Anne McGihon Wednesday, narrowing the field slightly to nine hopefuls. Farquhar, a long-time Platt Park resident, notified district officials he had decided against a bid to represent House District 3 because of the time involved, but he also admitted to The Denver Post he had only recently switched his registration from Republican to Democrat.
National Conference of State Legislators policy analyst Doug Farquhar, who decided Wednesday to leave the race, said he registered as a Republican and his wife registered as a Democrat so they could get both parties’ political mailers.
“I’ve switched now. I’m legal,” he said. “But it was last-minute.”
In an e-mail to party officials withdrawing his name, Farquhar praised the vacancy process and said he would consider running in the future. The University of Denver law school graduate directs the environmental health program for the Denver-based National Council of State Legislatures and teaches at DU’s environmental policy and management graduate program.
Farquhar had landed the top spot on the first-round ballot in a drawing Tuesday night. Still in the race, in the order their names appear on the ballot: Stephen White, Judith Judd, T.R. Reid, Daniel Kagan, Aaron Silverstein, George Brown, Colleen O’Brien, Sam Cassidy and Shelley Watters. Read more about the remaining HD 3 vacancy candidates here.
The HD 3 vacancy committee meets Thursday night to pick a replacement for McGihon, who announced March 16 she planned to step down to devote more time to a new job with a law firm. Democratic officials said Thursday morning that a blizzard piling up snow across Colorado won’t delay the election, set for 7 p.m. in the east basement of Denver’s University Park United Methodist Church, 2180 S. University Blvd. Registration starts at 6 p.m. The south metro area district includes parts of south Denver, Englewood and Cherry Hills Village.
