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Historical race in District 3 for congressional seat

Posted at 5:22 PM, Sep 28, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-28 19:32:13-04

PUEBLO — November's election is going to include some high profile races such as the U.S. Senate seat, but in Western Colorado and in Pueblo, the congressional race is also gaining some attention. For the first time ever, both major party candidates are women.

The race is making history in Colorado in District 3 because no matter what the outcome of the race, the district will be represented by a woman.

Josh Dunn, a political science professor at University of Colorado Colorado Springs says the story in this district is on par with other elected offices throughout the country.

"So it kind of fits with these larger national trends where you see increased female representation in congress," said Dunn.

Dunn says up until about 1980, about 3% of the seats in the House of Representatives were filled by women. Fast forward to a couple years ago, those numbers jumped to about 25%. The growing trend of women in politics is seen here locally as Republican nominee Lauren Boebert faces Democratic opponent Diane Mitsch Bush.

Boebert knocked incumbent Republican Scott Tipton out of his seat this summer.

"The fact that they lost a republican representative who was pretty well liked in the district, and so that puts a lot of things up for grabs."

Dunn says it's going to be a close one because traditionally District 3 has leaned republican. The district covers a large part of the state from South East Colorado to the Northwest, and includes Pueblo, which has majority democratic voters.

Meanwhile, Dunn says the votes in Pueblo could be a deciding factor in this historical election because Pueblo is the largest population center in that district.

Pueblo politics are also likely to be a big story come November. The city and county is receiving national attention this year as a potential swing county.