Iraq vet Fawcett to declare for CO-5 Colorado, Congress

From Dan Slater's DemNotes:

I've mentioned it briefly here before, but it apparently becomes formal on September 27: Jay Fawcett will announce his candidacy for the Fifth CD, a seat currently held by Joel Hefley (who is rumored to be retiring).

The primary announcement will be on September 27th at 8:00 a.m. at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs, but Jay is planning announcements all across the District (while the district is primarily centered in El Paso County, it does include some smaller central Colorado counties, including Chaffee and right here in my home county of Fremont County). Right now, one of the additional announcement locations is planned for October 1 in Buena Vista.

From his press release:

Retired Air Force Lt. Colonel and Desert Storm combat veteran, Jay Fawcett will announce his bid to be the first democrat to win the CD5 Congressional seat on Tuesday, September 27, 2005 at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort at 8:00am. Mike Miles, former Army Ranger, Special Assistant to the Ambassador to Russia at the end of the Cold War and 2004 Senatorial candidate will introduce Fawcett.

..In an article in the Gazette Telegraph (Metro Section, Sept 12, 2005), Fawcett stated clearly that, “CD5 is ready for a change.” It appears the Colorado Democrat Party leaders and the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in Washington DC are believing it also. “The state of Colorado is demanding leadership that reflects their concerns. The fifth CD is no different. It is in the midst of great change. ,” states CDP Chair, Pat Waak.

Fawcett has been meeting with political leaders since January 2005. He is gaining support, not only in Colorado, but on a national basis as well. According to the DCCC there are six to nine possible Iraq war vets who will be running for federal office across America in the 2006 election cycle. These candidates will be national news.

Fawcett makes no bones that his experience as a combat vet, Air Force Academy professor, military advisor, small business owner, husband and farther uniquely puts him ahead of the field in experience to lead this district. “In a time when the cold war is over and we are engaged in a war on global terrorism, people are questioning what our plan for the future will be and our current leadership is not providing the answers” states Fawcett. “El Paso county is not a bastion of the far right…they are just a very vocal piece of the north end of a district that has over 600,000 constituents, including the fourth largest concentration of veterans and over 123,000 unaffiliated voters.”

I'm no Colorado expert, but from what I know an Iraq combat veteran would have a good chance in the CO-5, which would be more suburban than Musgrave's 4th District along the eastern border. On the other hand, Joel Hefley had the largest margin of victory of any Colorado congressional incumbent in 2004.

Now, I guess the only thing to wait for is whether this will be an open seat or not. Coloradopols.com reported that Rep. Hefley would retire, following being dismissed as chair of the House Ethics Committee. Hefley denies the rumor, but a strong Dem entering the race may change that or may tip the Dems’ hand on what they think Hefley will do.

Jay Fawett for Congress (to launch Sept. 27)

Emmett O'Connell | September 23, 2005 | Comment on This Post (0 so far) Permalink: Iraq vet Fawcett to declare for CO-5 Colorado, Congress

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