We love following politics because in this business anything can happen. From Tom Tancredo running for governor on the American Constitutional Party ticket in 2010 to Anthony Weiner tweeting pics of his privates – we never cease to be shocked and amazed.
But perhaps nothing is more fun to watch than the implosion of a major political party over a rouge candidate that could cost them the election. (And no, we’re not talking about Donald Trump).
Eric Nelson, a Democrat running for House District 42, is ignoring widespread calls for him to drop out of the race after it was revealed that he’s got a lengthy criminal background, which includes allegations of domestic abuse, and that he has lied about having earned advanced degrees and being a retired military officer. Now, if Nelson wins the Democratic primary, he could actually end up costing his party a seat in the state House that Democrats never thought would be in play.
Democratic Party Chairman Rick Palacio has been begging Nelson to go away while other party leaders are circulating a petition calling on him to drop out of the race. The president of the Aurora Public Schools Board, on which Nelson sits, has also asked him to quit the board, nothing that the fact that Nelson got elected and has sat on the APS board for nearly three years without anyone seriously questioning his background points to a problem with school boards in general.
Nelson continues to politely decline all calls for him to drop out and resign. In fact, the opposition seems to only be strengthening his resolve.
With the primary only days away, Democrats are hoping their PR campaign is enough to ensure Nelson loses the primary. But if he wins, which is a very real possibility, it could give the GOP a chance to pick up a seat in this heavily Democratic district that, again, was never supposed to be in play.