Gun-control advocate joins growing Dem primary
Toltz motivated, in part, by Vegas massacre to run for Polis’ seat.
Ken Toltz, a Colorado businessman and longtime gun-control advocate with a failed congressional campaign under his belt, is joining the growing Democratic primary race to grab Jared Polis’ seat in the U.S. House.
“If I don’t step up now, when is the time?” Toltz told The Denver Post in announcing his candidacy, saying that his decision to run was, in part, motivated by Sunday night’s mass shooting in Las Vegas. “My experiences in Washington are going to make for an effective congressman on Day One.”
Toltz has been exploring a bid for the 2nd Congressional District post ever since Polis announced he was running for Colorado governor. He joins a host of other Democrats already vying for the job, and is one of the top names to get into the contest since it began with fellow Democrat Joe Neguse, a former University of Colorado regent and former executive director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies.
Toltz came up emptyhanded in his 2000 6th Congressional District battle against Republican firebrand Tom Tancredo, a contest that happened in the wake of the Columbine High School shootings. At that time, Toltz said he made gun-violence prevention a cornerstone of his platform, especially since one of his employees, in a manner unrelated to her job, provided the Columbine killers with guns used in the massacre.
In 2013, he then created Safe Campus Colorado as a way to push back against efforts to allow the concealed carrying of firearms on the state’s college campuses.
“The work that I have done and the commitment I have given to this issue is an indication of how I would conduct myself as a member of Congress,” Toltz said. “I’m a fighter, and I don’t back down — whether it’s my party or the other party, I’m willing to say the things that need to be said.”
Toltz — who worked for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C. — said he also plans to make environmental protection and affordability and access to higher education and health care key parts of his campaign.
“You can’t grow up in Colorado and not care about the environment,” he said. “… I think we have to get off burning fossil fuels. Burning fossil fuels damages the environment. We need to be converting to nonfossil fuel burning sources of power.”
Other Democrats running for the job in 2018 include Nederland Mayor Kristopher Larsen, Loveland Democrat Howard Dotson and Mark Williams, former chairman of the Boulder County Democratic Party. Todd Mitchem is seeking the position as a Libertarian, and Nick Thomas has filed to run as an independent.
Federal Elections Commission filings show no Republicans have entered the contest.
Neguse has endorsements from a swath of the Colorado Democratic Party’s top names, but Toltz — who has been coaxing others to join the race to replace Polis — feels those came too soon.
“I think this early rush is short-sighted. Joe is a wonderful guy and I’ve supported him and encouraged him in the past. I think the question is who would be the most effective congressman to represent the 2nd Congressional District, and that’s the case I would intend to make.”