The Rocky Mountain News today reports of the upcoming battle in House District 23 between Dem Rep. Gwen Green and her Republican challenger Ramey Johnson, and how support for public education will be a main issue when voters head to the polls in November.
In 2004 Democrat Green eked out a 41 vote victory over Johnson. Green’s narrow victory has been attributed to fractures within the district’s GOP, specifically their anger with a 2004 vote Johnson made against a school voucher bill. Conservatives favor vouchers while the Jefferson County Education Association (JCEA) opposes them.
On Tueday, Republican Johnson was one of the few “moderate” Republicans to make it out of the primary, defeating Pat Holloway 60%-40%.
The JCEA supports Green, saying she’s a friend of public education. The JCEA also lets their money do the talking, giving $2,000 to Green. No money was found being donated to Johnson–which may be a blessing.
In the southwest suburbs of Denver to that of Senate District 22, which is geographically close to House District 23, Primary night saw Kiki Traylor lose to Mike Kopp by less then 100 votes.
Traylor’s loss could be the result from shenanigans surrounding her failure to report $3,000 worth of donations from teachers union’s PACs. Mike Kopp, her Republican primary opponent, bested Traylor by only 75 votes on Tuesday, and was a vocal opponent of teachers unions and support of vouchers. He also campaigned against Tryalor because of her support for public schools.
Traylor was called “a friend of public education” by the JCEA as well.
So here you have geographically close districts with Republican Johnson, trying to illustrate her Public Education credentials. Just down the road, you have Republican Kopp beating Traylor because of his opposition to public education.
