Campaign 2018 Was Full Of Quirky Moments In Colorado
DENVER (CBS4) - Every election year has its quirky moments, but in Colorado 2018 seemed to have more than the average.
Here's a look back at a few of those unusual political moments that were featured on CBSDenver.com this year.
1. Terminator Rallies Colorado Voters
Last month former Republican California governor and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Democrat Gov. John Hickenlooper to show support for two statewide measures that would aim to end gerrymandering in Colorado. When tweeting about it, Schwarzenegger, star of the "Terminator" movies, used the hashtag #terminategerrmandering.
2. Rap Artists Get Behind Republican Congressional Candidate Mark Barrington
Rappers and Republicans may not be a natural fit, but in a polarized political climate they found common ground in 2018. Grammy award winning DJ Swiff of the band Outkast endorsed Republican Congressional candidate Mark Barrington along with local artists Da Rado and Doobie Newton. Barrington ran against Democratic incumbent Rep. Ed Perlmutter in the 7th Congressional District. The endorsement was based on Barrington's stance on criminal justice reform.
3. Challenger, Incumbent Work Together In Sheriff's Race After Vandalism
The candidates who ran for Summit County Sheriff worked together after someone painted swastikas and other images of hate on campaign signs for Summit County Sheriff Jamie FitzSimons. His challenger, Republican Derek Woodman, added $500 to the reward for information leading to the suspects.
4. Twitter Traffic Rant By Brauchler
Republican George Brauchler, who ran for Colorado Attorney General, was sitting in traffic in February in the Denver area and decided to rant about it on Twitter, writing "Our roads continue to suck." Brauchler, the district attorney for Colorado's 18th Judicial District, then added "Huge portions of our lives are being wasted dealing with the mismanagement of this transportation issue." Many people agreed with him -- two different transportation funding measures wound up on the November ballot.
5. Candidate Sprays Himself In The Face With Pepper Spray In Campaign Ad
There are plenty of videos on YouTube of people spraying themselves in the face with pepper spray -- but most of them aren't congressional campaign ads. Levi Tillemann, a Democratic candidate for Colorado's 6th congressional district, did just that. Tilleman wound up losing to Jason Crow in the primary.
6. Polis, Stapleton Agree On 1 Thing: Kombucha
Gubernatorial candidates Jared Polis and Walker Stapleton clashed on issues crucial to Colorado voters in their first fully televised debate at CBS4's studios, but fully agreed on one issue: kombucha. In a humorous segment near the conclusion of the debate, Stapleton said "(Polis) and I firmly support the future of kombucha," noting that Polis entered federal legislation to allow tax reductions for the brewers of the tea beverage, which contains a trace amount of alcohol. "We'll have to have a kombucha sometime together Walker, when this is all over," Polis said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Election Day In Colorado 2018