The stalwart of Denver’s lily white liberal establishment has drawn a primary challenger who checks all the far-left boxes demanded by today’s woke millennial.
But he still faces a monumental challenge in trying to take down a 13-term incumbent like U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, Democrat diva of the 1st Congressional District.
Neal Walia, 33, is a political unknown.
The Democrat worked as an intern in the office of U.S. Rep. Mark Udall and later Gov. Hickenlooper, eventually landing a job as a program coordinator in the governor’s office of community partnerships.
Walia’s job in Hickenlooper’s office was to end homelessness, so he’s already got some explaining to do.
Although he’s been working in Washington, D.C. the last few years for a public affairs software company, he’s rebranding himself as a Colorado community activist and organizer for those who’ve been left behind by the political system.
It’s unclear whether he currently lives in Colorado.
As the son of immigrants from India, Walia says he faced racism and xenophobia while attending school in Colorado, and was bullied after the September 11 terrorist attack.
From his campaign website:
“In an instant, all of his friends and peers no longer saw Neal as their friend and neighbor, but as a person who looked like a terrorist. He was physically and verbally bullied on a regular basis and was called names such as terrorist, Osama, and much worse.”
Walia is a big fan of the left’s favorite socialist, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her Green New Deal, so his politics swing pretty far left.
He doesn’t categorize himself as a socialist Democrat, but he should.
If elected, he promises to free us from fossil fuel corporations that power our lives and Colorado’s economy.
“That sector must be brought under public control and unwound in favor of public-led industrial policy aimed at developing green technology,” Walia’s campaign webpage says.
Walia is soft on crime and favors mass decarceration and restorative justice over old fashioned law and order.
He wants to end our “cruel immigration system” and throw open the borders so everyone is free to migrate here.
He also promises free education, free health care, an end to war and major investments in promoting harmony.
His platform is all pie-in-the-sky socialist crap that most Denver voters pretend they want, but not really, and certainly not funded from their own wallets.
Still, we’re hoping for an interesting campaign.