WHEAT RIDGE, Colo.—Colorado Democratic Congressman Ed Perlmutter and Republican challenger Ryan Frazier made jobs and the economy the focus of their three-minute speeches during a candidate forum in Wheat Ridge Friday night.
Perlmutter described himself as a Wheat Ridge native who knows that jobs are what’s on most voters minds.
“This has been my home my whole life. And I see many of you at the grocery store, I see you at the gas station, I see you at the local coffee shops and I know jobs are your top priority,” he told a few dozen voters at the Wheat Ridge City Hall. “And jobs are my top priority.”
The forum Friday included speakers arguing for and against ballot initiatives and candidates running for municipal offices and statewide offices.
Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet and Republican challenger Ken Buck sent surrogates to speak on their behalf. Gubernatorial candidates John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, Dan Maes, a Republican, and Tom Tancredo, with the American Constitution Party, also sent surrogates.
The long list of speakers meant each had three minutes to deliver their pitch to voters.
Like Perlmutter, Frazier made jobs the focus of his stump speech for the 7th Congressional District.
“These are important issues, this goes beyond politics,” Frazier said. He said in addition to job creation, lawmakers need to be more fiscally responsible and balance the country’s budget.
“It’s unacceptable to continue to put the type of debt on our children that we’re doing in this country,” said Frazier, who has served in the Aurora City Council for seven years.
Libertarian 7th District congressional candidate Buck Bailey also participated in the forum and told voters they should vote for what they believe in, rather than voting against what they fear and said he offered a “third alternative.”
“I’m not a professional politician; don’t want to be,” he said.
Perlmutter, a former Colorado legislator, was elected in 2006, and was re-elected with 63 percent of the vote in 2008. Despite Perlmutter’s easy victory last election, the 7th Congressional District has shown to be tightly contested among Democrats, Republicans and independent voters during its brief history. The seat created in 2002 was first held Republican Bob Beauprez—and he won it by 121 votes.
Perlmutter started the campaign with a wide fundraising lead and said this week that he added more than $500,000 since July.
Frazier hasn’t released his fundraising totals for the fiscal quarter that ended last month.
In addition to candidate spending, outside interest groups have poured thousands into campaign ads for and against both candidates, indicating the race is competitive. And Frazier received a boost Friday with an endorsement from The Denver Post.
