Christy Peterson will be the Republican nominee for the Denver-based 1st Congressional District.
She was the only Republican to run for the nomination at the party’s assembly meeting Tuesday night.
Peterson, 41, lives in south Denver and works at a construction company doing office management and accounting. She will face the winner of the Democratic primary in November.
“I'm ready for it,” Peterson said when asked about the Mt. Everest-like climb a Republican faces in CD-1.
In the last four races, incumbent Democrat Diana DeGette defeated her Republican challengers by 50 percentage points or more. And as of April, there were more than 185,000 registered Democrats in the district, compared to 41,386 registered Republicans. There were 230,000 unaffiliated voters.
“I think just showing people our Republican values and how those values can help people, families, businesses, individuals, yeah, I think everybody resonates with those,” Peterson said.
Many of the delegates at the assembly were less optimistic about the chances of a Republican congressional win in Denver this fall.
“I don't think we have a chance in hell,” said Myra Hill, adding that the steep odds can be disheartening for local Republicans. “They've just given up. And I don't know how to revitalize and get the message out that it's okay to be conservative and to speak up.”
Before the meeting, she said she was looking for a candidate “that represents everyone.”
The most important issues for delegate Wes Harrison this election season are crime, prices and parental rights in school.
But the quality he was looking for in a congressional candidate is “someone who is a conservative. Let's start there.”
He’s feeling pretty low about Republican chances in Denver, he said, “but miracles can happen, I guess.”
He thinks the candidate will have to find the right message to appeal to independent voters. “The prices, the fees, the hidden taxes that are coming out of Colorado,” he said.
DeGette, the Democratic incumbent, is facing challenges from two other candidates. Melat Kiros got topline at the Democratic Assembly, while Wanda James has gathered signatures to get onto the ballot.
The district last elected a Republican in 1970.
