Democrats need new generation of leaders, says 6th District candidate

Jason Crow, who hopes to finally be the Democrat to win Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, won’t support his party’s leadership if he’s elected.

“I won’t be supporting Nancy Pelsoi,” Crow told The Denver Post. “I want new leadership to set up and move this country forward.”

Crow was the candidate national Democrats wanted in their ongoing quest to defeat U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora. Coffman has held the seat for about a decade and has defeated every challenger handily in a district where registered Democrats are starting to edge out registered Republicans.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee named Crow one of its “red to blue” candidates in November. Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, D-N.Y., infamously told Crow’s primary opponent, Levi Tillemann, to drop out of the race in a conversation caught on a secret audio recording.

Despite the support he got from top-ranking House Democrats, Crow was adamant that he “wasn’t recruited for this race” and doesn’t believe he’s beholden to the party establishment.

Crow decided to run for office long before the DCCC gave its support to his campaign, he said.

“I’ve been consistently calling for a new generation of leadership,” Crow said.

Tyler Sandberg, a spokesman for Coffman’s campaign, doesn’t believe Crow would really fight for a new Democratic leader in the House.

“The truth is Jason Crow can never be his own man in Congress as he owes his entire candidacy to the liberal Washington, D.C., special interests that have underwritten his candidacy to the tune of millions of dollars and tried to strong-arm his opponent out of the primary,” Sanberg said.