Outbreak threatens to upend Colorado political campaigns
Campaign volunteers walking door to door find fewer people willing to answer. Signature gatherers with a clipboard and pen meet fewer willing to pick up that pen. Political parties debate whether to cancel or drastically modify their upcoming assemblies.
This is politics during a public health emergency.
“Part of the bread and butter of campaigns is canvassing, and door-todoor contact has been virtually shut down,” said Diana Bray, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate who has until Tuesday to amass 10,500 signatures from across the state. If she can’t, her candidacy comes to an end.
“Many people are refusing to hold the pen that others have held to sign petitions. Many ask if they can sign my petition online, which they cannot,” she added.
Gov. Jared Polis declared a state of emergency Tuesday, making the already difficult job of collecting 10,500 valid signatures — 1,500 from each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts — even harder, some Democratic Senate candidates say. And they can only speculate about what comes next, as a coronavirus outbreak threatens to upend politics across the country in this pivotal election year.
Senate candidate Michelle Ferrigno Warren, a Denver Democrat, met a couple with an infant who were willing to sign her petition but fearful of exposing their young child to the virus.
So, the three made some adjustments.
“I have a volunteer who’s collecting signatures going to their house tonight. They said, we’re using our own pens and we’re doing it on the front porch and we’re not letting her in the house. I said, no problem, why don’t you call a bunch of your friends and neighbors and we’ll do a front porch, bring-your-ownpen signing,” Ferrigno Warren said Wednesday, adding that she still expects to turn in enough signatures next week.
One problem for candidates is that retirees, who are among the most politically engaged part of the population, are believed most vulnerable to the virus.
Campaigns that had come to count on older volunteers are now operating with fewer of them in many cases.
“My senior volunteers are literally putting their health at risk if they circulate petitions for me, which I cannot, in good conscience, ask of them,” Bray said.
Senate candidate Lorena Garcia, a Denver Democrat, says a few of her volunteers with compromised immune systems have been replaced by other volunteers, but she still anticipates turning in the requisite amount of signatures Tuesday.
“Part of what we’re doing with our volunteers is making sure they all carry around hand sanitizer and wipes and that they’re constantly wiping down their hands, just to make sure we’re not spreading any kind of illness that might exist,” Garcia said.
Colorado Democratic Party officials say coronavirus lowered turnout at Saturday’s caucuses and many who did attend bumped elbows rather than shaking hands.
Signature gathering and the caucuses, both of which have been affected by coronavirus, are the two pathways for Democratic candidates to get on the June 30 primary ballot. John Hickenlooper has already turned in signatures, and Andrew Romanoff won last Saturday’s precinct caucuses.
Four small counties are scheduled to hold their next level of Democratic caucuses this Saturday afternoon.
Those are still expected to occur, county party officials say.
“That’s what we’re planning on, anyway,” said Louise Peterson, chair of the Park County Democratic Party, which has a 1 p.m. assembly that day. “Weather or new recommendations could change that, but fingers crossed it won’t.”
On Thursday, state legislators from both parties introduced a bill to allow for remote participation in party assemblies and conventions, including votes by email, mail, telephone and the internet.
The bill, which they’re trying to pass by Saturday, would also allow for minor rescheduling and expand the use of proxies.
“What this bill is doing is really taking into consideration the large groups of delegates that are going to be coming together, much of which is an at-risk population that could be very vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus and susceptible to COVID-19,” said House Majority Leader Alec Garnett, D-Denver.
It only applies to the 2020 assemblies and conventions, not future years, and would not change the signature-gathering requirements or deadline.
Many aren’t waiting for new rules to change their behavior. Interest groups have canceled their Capitol lobbying days; lawmakers are canceling large gatherings, including news conferences; and senators are encouraging people to contact them through electronic means if possible.
The governor’s office has also informed lawmakers that Polis will stop holding public events to mark his signing bills into law. Those signings will take place in private for now.
On Thursday, three statehouse candidates announced they would suspend all in-person campaign events of 10 people or more. The three — James Coleman, Iman Jodeh and John Ronquillo — will instead focus on digital outreach, along with small gatherings that follow sanitation protocols.
“I want to reassure the public, this decision should not be a cause of panic,” said Coleman, a state representative running for a state Senate seat in northeast Denver. “Rather, it should be a sign of the need to take action and that taking action is valuable. The more decisively we address the coronavirus upfront, the more likely we are to stave off a full medical crisis and save lives.”