Today, Ernest Luning of the Colorado Statesman reports state Rep. Joe Miklosi (D-Denver) is about to get a well-funded challenger for the Democrat nomination in the 6th Congressional district. While most of the political world was talking about the possibility of failed former US Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff entering the race, an ethically-tainted chiropractor named Dr. Perry Haney was inching his way into the race.
Luning reports Haney filed papers with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Oct. 27 with an address in Lone Tree, part of the 6th CD. Previously, Haney had listed a PO Box in Grand Junction as his campaign address, as Haney has been openly flirting with jumping into either the 6th CD or 3rd CD race. It looks like the carpetbagger has finally finished shopping for a district and settled on challenging Miklosi, and if he succeeds in garnering the Democrat nomination, attempting to take on incumbent Congressman Mike Coffman (R-Aurora) in the general.
Though it appears to be nothing more than a stunt candidacy, Haney's entrance into the 6th CD race is a nonetheless disheartening piece of news for Miklosi. After Romanoff begged off and endorsed Miklosi, Joe probably thought he was well on his way to wrapping up the Democrat nomination.
Not so fast, Joe, there's a chiropractor who is re-aligning the race.
It appears Haney might be running just to boost his own business. In a time of anger over crony capitalism, it's probably not best to announce your desire to boost your own business as a reason for running for Congress. From Luning's write up:
Haney plans to invite chiropractors to the unveiling of the nameplate on his congressional door, which will identify him as a member of the profession. When it comes to Medicare, Haney says it should be saved, not destroyed. “One way to fix Medicare is via greater utilization of chiropractic, which is proven to save costs,” he says. “Chiropractic [also] must be included on an equal playing field in all insurance systems.”
Despite Haney's early struggles to define an effective campaign message, Haney may well rub Miklosi right out of contention. Don't forget, Haney has a history of being charged by medical boards in Iowa and Colorado with “excessive use of massage.” More to the point, as a wealthy doctor with plenty of wealthy doctor friends, Haney could end up with more cash in his campaign account come December 31 than Miklosi himself. Now that would be embarrassing!
We first got wind of the chiropractor's potential campaign back in May when Congressman Steny Hoyer ran his mouth to The Denver Post editorial board about potential Democrat candidates for Congress. Since then Haney's campaign Facebook page has shown him traipsing across the state, primarily in 3rd CD locations like Grand Junction and Aspen, though those posts appear to be have been deleted from the page now.
The fact that Hoyer, the #2 Democrat in the US House, and other high ranking Democrats have been meeting with Haney, only highlights the weakness of Joe Miklosi's campaign. Eli Stokols reported Democrats in DC were pushing Romanoff to get in due to Miklosi's weak poll numbers.
Well, it now appears Miklosi has more than just his weak fundraising to worry about in the near term. He's about to get a primary opponent with deep pockets and no reason to play nice with the local Democrat machine.
Somewhere, Mike Coffman is quietly smiling.