Rep. Curry ready to run as write-in candidate

Curry not deterred by judge’s ruling

Colorado state representative Kathleen Curry of Gunnison will have to run as a write-in candidate to retain her District 61 house seat. Her name will not appear on the November ballot. Never-the-less, she is confident she can pull off the hard task and keep her seat in the state house.

Last week, a federal district judge ruled against Curry and La Plata county commissioner Joelle Riddle, who had challenged the fact that unaffiliated candidates are treated differently from affiliated candidates. They argued that Colorado’s state law violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The judge didn’t agree.
Curry left the Democratic Party last December to be independent of any political party. This cost her significant leadership roles at the state level but she said the two-party system just wasn’t working for the people. And under the state law, she had to be registered as unaffiliated well over a year before the election if her name were to get on the ballot.
“I’m disappointed but I knew what the landscape would be when I became unaffiliated,” she said. “We will keep moving forward with the campaign. We thought this might happen so we are prepared to run a write-in campaign.”
Federal district judge Marcia Krieger released her 24-page ruling on Wednesday, June 23, writing, in part, “The presence of independent candidates in an election has distinct benefits, but if it is totally unregulated, it can increase voter confusion and distraction, political opportunism, and obscure rather than clarify the differences between policy positions.”
In a press release from the Curry campaign, Curry responded that “In this case we were not seeking to “totally unregulate” the presence of independent candidates because if the court had ruled in our favor, unaffiliated candidates would still have to petition on to the ballot and their registration status would have been declared at least seven months before the election.”
Curry continued, “I don’t see the presence of independent candidates as ‘causing confusion’ or ‘as a distraction for voters.’ Independent candidates offer an option for the over one-third of Colorado voters that have chosen not to participate in the two-party system.”
Under Colorado law, candidates seeking public office may get their names on a general-election ballot by either winning a party’s primary nomination, or, if they aren’t affiliated with a political party, by submitting a petition for nomination.
Changes to the election law were passed by the state’s General Assembly this last legislative session—through a bill introduced by Curry—but won’t go into effect until the 2012 general election. The changes shorten the minimum affiliation period, so candidates have until the first business day of January of an election year to affiliate with their parties.
Curry admits running as a write-in will be more difficult than having her name on the ballot. Instead of focusing only on why people should vote for her, she must also explain to people how they can vote for her.
“We have a how and a why to deal with,” she said. “But we have met with the secretary of state and the key is ‘voter intent’ when it comes to a write-in. They don’t have to use both names or even spell my last name correctly, but it must be clear they are intending to vote for me.”
Curry said her campaign must also work with the county clerks for Gunnison, Garfield, Eagle, Pitkin and Hinsdale counties since District 61 encompasses at least parts of each of those counties. “The county clerks will play a major role in determining voter intent,” she said.
Curry said her volunteers have been reviewing the details of how the election with a write-in candidate will work. Each ballot will have a place where voters can write a candidate’s name. It should be located after the names of the candidates from the Democrats and Republicans.
“It will certainly be harder,” she said. “But I am confident we can do it. I have already been overwhelmed by the support people are showing when they learn about the judge’s ruling. The amount of support is huge. I’m honored and a bit surprised.”
Curry said the other challenge is campaign donations. The explanation, Curry told Denver’s Westword, involves the primary system. “Affiliated candidates can take a donation in the amount of $200 for each check before the primary and after the primary—and that applies even if you don’t have a primary opponent. It’s just assumed that all major party candidates will have to engage in a primary process. So even though I never had a primary opponent when I was affiliated, I was able to accept $400. But as an unaffiliated candidate, I’ll only be able to accept $200.
“I don’t think that’s fair,” Curry admits, “but it’s in the constitution. I’d basically have to get twice the number of people to donate to match the potential contributions,” she said. “That’s just another strike against unaffiliated candidates.”
Overall, Curry has accepted the cards dealt to her. “Of course I’d rather have my name in the ballot but I feel we can win,” she said. “It’s all good.”
Roger Wilson of Garfield County will run for the seat as a Democrat. Luke Korkowski, a Mt. Crested Butte attorney, is running as a Republican.