A REVIEW OF 6TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEBATES

Coffman and Crow battled over immigration and money.

Personal attacks, sharp exchanges and millions of dollars in outside spending on the race between Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman and his Democratic challenger, Jason Crow, make one thing clear: Both of their parties know whoever wins on election night could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The two men have faced each other four times in recent weeks. Here are four takeaways from those debates:

Trust issues

Coffman and Crow both have put the question of whom voters can trust at the center of their attacks on each other, using labels such as dishonest, shameful and “everything that’s wrong with politics.”

Crow has painted Coffman as a politician who says one thing to get elected and does another once in office.

“We need a Congress that’s willing to stand up to Donald Trump, not vote with him 96 percent of the time,” Crow said during the Univision Colorado debate.

That number comes from the political news website FiveThirtyEight.com. What it doesn’t tell you is Coffman broke with his party and the president on several signature pieces of legislation, such as the failed effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

At the Aurora Chamber of Commerce forum, Coffman attacked Crow’s record as a criminal defense attorney.

He accused Crow of deleting parts of his biography page on the Holland & Hart website before running for office because “he doesn’t want you to know that he was never on the side of the victim.”

Crow said he hasn’t hidden his work, but it has changed over time. He says the cases Coffman cites are from the early days of his career, when he was one of several attorneys assigned to assist more senior members on cases.

All politics is national

Coffman has held onto his seat — which arcs around Denver to the north, east and south — by focusing on local issues that different communities in his district care about. But this election has become a proxy for whether people approve of President Trump.

“Make no mistake what this is about and what is at stake for America,” Crow said at the forum. “We are at a crossroads in our country.”

Crow has repeatedly punched on the idea that Coffman can’t or won’t stand up to Trump, but the Aurora Republican says he has

stood up to presidents from both parties when he thought they were wrong.

“I’ve been an independent voice,” Coffman said during the 9News debate.

Coffman accused Crow of being tied to Democratic Party leadership because so much national money has been spent trying to get him elected, and told voters they should consider whether they want House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in charge again.

Crow has said he won’t support Pelosi in a bid for speaker, but Coffman pre dicted Crow wouldn’t keep that promise.

Crow also said during that debate he wouldn’t support impeachment, calling it premature and potentially damaging to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Money

Colorado’s 6th District is one of the most expensive House races in the country. Most of the money has come from outside groups such as super PACs, which can’t coordinate with candidates, and corporate PACs that can donate directly to campaigns.

Crow promised not to take money from corporate PACs and slammed Coff man for taking more than a million dollars from these groups. Coffman hit back each time it came up, saying Crow took corporate dollars because he accepted money from other groups that in turn are funded by corporate PACs.

“That’s not being honest,” Coffman said during the Aurora forum.

Immigration

The 6th District is home to thousands of immigrants from all over the world, so it’s not surprising the two candidates have similar positions on these issues.

Both Coffman and Crow support a path to citizenship for children brought to this country illegally by their parents and permanent residency for people who immigrated legally under a Temporary Protected Status program.

They both said during the 9News debate that the caravan of South Americans making its way through Mexico is indicative of a larger humanitarian crisis, but they aren’t sure the United States is the best place for the refugees.

“We have to be working with Mexico right now on the humanitarian end of this,” Crow said. “I would like to see those folks seek asylum in Mexico.”