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Social activist Menconi jumps into race for 3rd Congressional District

Former candidate Kennedy endorses Hanlon for Democratic nomination

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February 27, 2018, 9:57 am

Add former Green Party U.S. Senate candidate and former Eagle County Commissioner Arn Menconi to the list of candidates trying to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, who represents part of Eagle County and most of Colorado’s Western Slope in Congress.

menconi arrest

Arn Menconi Facebook page photo.

Menconi announced he’ll try to petition his way onto the ballot as a Democrat, using Facebook on Monday to offer this impassioned call for support:

“I’m running because 17 kids were shot on Valentines Day and the Stonenman Douglas students renewed my faith in humanity and my fight. I will not let my kids grow up with assault weapons, global warming, racism and income inequality at the hands of Oligarchs. I want Donald Trump’s sickness out of office and Congress in the hands of Democrats who will Impeach him. I’m done with incrementalism. DONALD NEEDS TO BE IMPEACHED. He will not arm teachers. He will not take us into nuclear war. He will be indicted on money laundering and lying if I’m elected. Our children should not be 17 years of age and trying to fight without adults on their side fighting with them.”

Menconi joins two other Democrats seeking the nomination to take on Tipton: former Colorado state Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush — a former Routt County commissioner who also previously represented Eagle and Routt counties in the Colorado General Assembly – and Karl Hanlon, a Carbondale rancher and Glenwood Springs municipal and water attorney.

Both Mitsch Bush and Hanlon also previously weighed in on the Parkland, Florida, massacre, but Tipton has remained silent on the ensuing gun-control debate on his social media platforms and official website.

Another Democrat, Grand Junction City Council member Chris Kennedy, pulled out of the race in December for family reasons. He recently endorsed Hanlon, who is seeking to both petition his way onto the ballot and get the nod via the Democratic Party precinct caucus process on March 6 (pdf).

“I am proud to endorse Karl Hanlon as the next Congressman for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District,” Kennedy said in a recent press release. “It is time for a change in the way we operate in Washington, D.C., and there is no one better to serve our common interests than Karl, and no time more important to our way of life than right now.

“Karl’s background as a park ranger, water lawyer, and rancher gives him the unique ability to understand and solve the full array of issues our district faces,” Kennedy added. “His experience working with legislators at all levels, from city councilors to U.S. Senators, to get things done on the ground will be invaluable in Congress. From his work to bring broadband to Glenwood Springs to his non-profit work assisting veterans with PTSD, Karl’s passion for preserving our communities and growing our economic opportunities will bring the responsive and accountable representation that has been so lacking the last seven years.”

Tipton replaced Blue-dog Democrat rancher John Salazar in the Tea Party wave of 2010 and has since held serve rather easily in the predominantly Republican 3rd Congressional District, beating former state Sen. Gail Schwartz by 14 percentage points in 2016.

Menconi, now a social activists whose Facebook page features a picture of him being dragged out of a congressional committee meeting by U.S. Capitol Police, took on Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in 2016, garnering 1.3 percent of the vote. Menconi had first considered running for the 3rd Congressional District before Schwartz got into the race.

To successfully petition their way onto the primary ballot, candidates have to get at least 1,000 signatures from voters registered in the district they’re seeking to represent. Those voters need to have registered a month prior to signing the petition, and can do so by going to the Colorado Secretary of State website. Registered voters can only sign one candidate’s petition.

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David O. Williams

Managing Editor at RealVail
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.

One Response to Social activist Menconi jumps into race for 3rd Congressional District

  1. Debbie Marquez Reply

    February 28, 2018 at 7:39 am

    I love a good primary. Especially when there is full spectrum of policy opinions. The CO-03 is also a district with a diverse demographic and yuge Latino population. Where’s the female, Latina, young Dem candidate this year? I think she could win the primary.

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