Raise your hand if you know if and/or to whom Democratic candidate for Colorado State Attorney General Don Quick is married. Raise your hand if you know whether Libertarian candidate David Williams is married and, if so, to whom.  Nobody who doesn’t personally know these candidates is raising their hands?  That’s funny.  See, 9News thought that Cynthia Coffman’s marriage was important to note in her candidate questionnaire and profile.  See below.

This whole episode started when Cynthia Coffman refused to answer the questions 9News posed about various issues because the questions were political and opinion-based.  The role of Attorney General leaves no room for political opinion as the job is to uphold and defend all of Colorado’s laws.  By definition, Attorneys General are simply not policy makers.

Agree or disagree with her approach, it doesn’t matter.  She’s only the little lady bad ass female deputy attorney general running, yet, she’s the only one whose spouse is mentioned whatsoever.  Are we in 1973? Will Rep. Mike Coffman have to co-sign for a credit card for Cynthia, too, because women aren’t allowed to have their own identities?

The fact of the matter is that, yes, Cynthia Coffman is married to U.S. Rep. Coffman, running for re-election in CD6, but Cynthia Coffman has her own impressive credentials and has never run on the fact that her husband is a U.S. Congressman.  Not only is this sexist, but it’s tying her to one of the most high-profile national races in the country.  Further, no other candidate’s spouse is noted in any of 9News‘ candidate profiles.

Push back against this blatant sexism was met with a “it’s our right as a media organization” response.  Newsflash: it’s our right as a media organization to call you out on it.  Either mention all spouses or none.  Don’t use the fact that Cynthia Coffman is married to a U.S. Congressman to distract from the fact that your candidate survey for this particular position was inherently flawed.