GOLDEN, Colo.—Two-term Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter has claimed victory in a key Colorado swing district with easy wins in previous years that have reflected the state’s transition from GOP-friendly to purple territory.
But not this year. Perlmutter, an unabashed defender of Obama administration initiatives on health care and stimulus spending, is fighting for his job this fall in metro Denver’s sprawling 7th Congressional District against Ryan Frazier, a charismatic Republican who could become Colorado’s first black U.S. representative.
“We have a really good shot of winning this thing,” Frazier, a 33-year-old Aurora city councilman, told The Associated Press.
The tightening race underscores GOP ambitions to pick up as many as three congressional seats in Colorado, where Democrats now hold a 5-2 advantage. Democrats Betsy Markey in eastern Colorado and John Salazar in the west also are fighting for re-election.
Outside interest groups have spent nearly $1.2 million on negative ads in the 7th District race, an indication of how competitive the contest has become. There also have been testy exchanges in recent debates.
Frazier is attacking Perlmutter using a familiar GOP theme: He’s part of a wasteful Democratic regime in Washington. Perlmutter, a former state lawmaker who calls himself the everyday man of the district, defends the Democratic agenda, including efforts to cap carbon emissions.
“I ran on these issues in 2006 and 2008 and then, you bet, I supported them, especially since I had input in some of the major legislation that we passed,” he said in an interview in his Golden office.
Colorado’s 7th District was created in 2002 after a fight between Democrats and Republicans that ended up in court. What a judge delivered was a district almost evenly divided among Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated voters. It wraps around the city of Denver and includes Democratic-trending suburbs to the west, a sizable Hispanic population in Aurora and Commerce City, and more GOP-friendly territory in Arapahoe County.
In 2002, Republican Bob Beauprez won it by 121 votes, then was re-elected in 2004.
Two years later, Perlmutter won the district by 13 percentage points after Beauprez entered the race for governor. Perlmutter easily won re-election in 2008.
Frazier and interest groups supporting him assert that the 57-year-old Perlmutter sides with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 98 percent of the time. Perlmutter calls the comparison misleading, noting that in the last two years, he’s voted with Colorado Republican Rep. Mike Coffman, a conservative war veteran, about half the time.
He also surprised Frazier in a recent debate by noting that a school attended by Frazier’s children received federal stimulus funding.
The attack ads against Perlmutter keep flowing. One claims he supports health care for illegal immigrants. A picture of a man jumping a fence flashes on the screen.
Democrats are firing back, claiming Frazier is a partner in a business that has outsourced jobs overseas. The business, Takara Systems, calls itself a Denver-based technology firm with operations in North American, Africa and Asia. Frazier calls the outsourcing claim false.
Frazier has a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Regis University. He served five years in the Navy working for the National Security Agency. At times, he has seemed more composed than Perlmutter in debates.
In a recent KUSA-TV debate, the two sparred over Perlmutter’s knowledge of the health care legislation. Perlmutter became flustered and lightly swatted Frazier’s hand away from him. “Hey, don’t hit me man, c’mon,” Frazier said with a smile. Perlmutter apologized.
Perlmutter is playing up his roots in the district. A Wheat Ridge native, he worked in construction in high school and college and says he attended “a million soccer games” while raising three daughters in his hometown.
“I can talk to pretty much anybody about any subject,” said Perlmutter, who often sets up a table at grocery stores on weekends to talk to constituents.
But he knows what he’s up against.
“This is a swing district. It will always be a swing district,” Perlmutter said. “And we never thought it was a given.”
