Progressive incumbents in Colorado State House elections defeated in Democratic primary
Two progressive Democratic incumbents in Colorado's General Assembly were defeated by two candidates seen as more moderate in Tuesday's primary election.
Democratic state Reps. Elisabeth Epps and Tim Hernández, who both represent west and east Denver, respectively, in Colorado's General Assembly, were defeated in their primary bids for re-election.
As of 10 p.m., Sean Camacho had about 7,600 votes to Epps' 4,200, according to the Denver Elections Division, and Cecelia Espenoza had about 4,500 votes to Hernández's 3,700.
"Tonight, the people of House District 6 sent a powerful message: they want results from the state Capitol," Camacho told CBS News Colorado in a statement. "With Democrats controlling both legislative chambers and the Governor's mansion, we need lower inflation, housing that's affordable, strong schools, guaranteed reproductive freedom, protections for our environment, and finally, a long overdue ban on assault weapons."
The three other candidates did not immediately respond to CBS News Colorado's requests for comments.
As was seen with most Republican primary races, those results appear to be emblematic of more moderate candidates beating out those who are further left or right.
"You have a lot of people who are term-limited so new leadership is coming into play. And over in the House, you see it leaning more left. The Senate has continued to be more moderate, and I expect to stay the same, barring the results tonight," he told CBS Colorado Political Specialist Shaun Boyd. "I think there was a lot of independent expenditure money that wanted to make sure the moderates really had the advantage."
Across the state, both in the State House and in Congress, mainstream liberal and conservative groups dumped millions of dollars into these races to help elect more moderate candidates.
