Andrew Romanoff Accuses Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Of Trying To Push Him Out
DENVER (CBS4)- Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff says party bosses in D.C. have blacklisted him. He accuses the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee of trying to push him out of the race.
The DSCC is a powerful political machine that spends hundreds of millions of dollars each election and Romanoff says it is threatening polling, media and other political consultants that if they work with him, it will cut them off.
The DSCC has endorsed John Hickenlooper. Romanoff says helping Hickenlooper is one thing, sabotaging his campaign is another.
"I certainly have fundamental differences on public policy with Cory Gardner, my former colleague and our current Senator, and we'll air out those differences in the course of this campaign. I didn't expect to have to fight the Democratic death star at the same time," said Romanoff.
Romanoff is the anti-establishment candidate. He supports The Green New Deal to address climate change and Medicare-for-All. The national party, he says, is worried he'll rock the boat.
"A lot of folks I've met all across the state believe the system is rigged against them and, the worst part is, they're right."
The DSCC didn't respond to Romanoff's claim directly, saying only, "We do not have a policy of preventing firms from working with candidates. In our role as a campaign committee focused on winning Senate seats, we have ongoing conversations with strategists and advisers about battleground races."
Romanoff says that's a distinction without a difference and he won't be bullied, "I've met too many people across Colorado who've lost everything - their jobs, their savings, their loved ones in some cases, their homes - all on account of a power structure that discounts their voice. This is not just about me, or the prospects my candidacy, although I'd like to win and I'm working as hard as can. It's really about whether ordinary Americans are going to have a fair shot."
CBS4 asked the other two leading candidates if they'd had a similar experience. Mike Johnston's campaign wouldn't comment. Dan Baer's campaign said he had no trouble hiring.
A veteran political operative with a national firm backed-up Romanoff's claim. He asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation but said he sent Romanoff a contract and the DSCC intervened and made him pull it, threatening to blackball the firm if he didn't.