Auon’tai “Tay” Anderson has suspended his campaign for state House District 8 claiming too many other Black people are running, which he thinks could dilute the Black vote and allow whitey or a Hispanic candidate to win.
Instead, Anderson has created his own non-profit group and made himself boss.
After years of GoFundMe’s, DPS expenses & other lifestyle supports, fmr Denver school board member Tay Anderson realized he can’t win in HD8 & needs a job.
So, he’s found a nice, new nonprofit home where people can finally get tax deductions for giving him money 🥸 #copolitics pic.twitter.com/u1aul0PTmw
— Jimmy Sengenberger (@SengCenter) January 9, 2024
Which means he’s not running for public office.
Oh, happy day.
The former Denver school board troublemaker suspended that reelection effort last year after a poll showed him deep underwater with less than 10% of support.
He announced then he would run for the state house seat being vacated by fellow Democrat Leslie Herod.
Taking a page from Lauren Boebert’s playbook, who just announced she’s switching congressional districts in the hopes of keeping the historically conservative 3rd CD in Republican hands, Anderson this week said:
… the district risks losing the historically Black seat because the primary features multiple Black candidates, and historically that has led to a division of voters.
Of the half-dozen or more candidates running for the seat, two Black candidates are left now that Anderson is out.
The district is 57% White, 20% Hispanic and 14%, Black, according to the U.S. Census.
Channel 9 got to the heart of Anderson’s plot right off the bat:
DENVER — Auon’tai Anderson, the controversial former Denver School Board member, is dropping his campaign for a state House seat and asking the public for $30,000 in donations to start a new education-focused nonprofit.
Anderson expanded on a disclaimer on his fundraising page, explaining that the 2-week-old effort is not an IRS-recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit, after 9NEWS raised questions about its finances.
Anderson’s switch to the non-profit world sounds sketchy in this report, but it doesn’t appear any other news outlets are bothering to double-check the background of this non-profit that’s not yet a non-profit, of which Anderson plans to make himself CEO and is already promoting a fundraiser.
While everyone else is kissing Anderson’s ass, Kyle Clark over at 9News is more skeptical.
Grab the popcorn and turn on the X fight between the two.
UPDATE: @AuontaiAnderson, who left the Denver School Board after controversies including a censure for flirting with an underage girl and a campaign finance complaint for his GoFundMe campaigns, is now asking for money for a new non-profit. #copolitics https://t.co/2wMSwbobjX
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) January 9, 2024
Actually,
For the record, the “trip” in question was to sponsor multiple people to Washington D.C following the death of former SCOTUS Justice Ginsburg to protest the nomination of the current justice that replaced her.
So this is misleading.
I also did NOT make a… https://t.co/SkCMsEDpiw
— Auon’tai M. Anderson (@AuontaiAnderson) January 9, 2024
I understand why Black community leaders, candidates, and elected officials warned me about giving Kyle Clark the time of day.
This morning, we launched a new education nonprofit to center the needs of Black students and all he’s done is throw stones with misleading tweets and…
— Auon’tai M. Anderson (@AuontaiAnderson) January 9, 2024