Eritrean-American Joe Neguse wins Democratic primary in 2nd Congressional District by wide margin

Joe Neguse hugs his father Debesai Neguse after seeing results for the primary for that seat Tuesday night at a watch party at the Rayback Collective in Boulder. (Jeremy Papasso/Daily Camera)


Joe Neguse wins Democratic primary in 2nd Congressional District by wide margin

By John Bear | Daily Camera

Joe Neguse cruised to victory in the Democratic primary race for the 2nd Congressional District on Tuesday night, setting the stage to become Colorado's first African American congressman should he defeat his Republican and independent challengers this fall.

"I'm very excited, very honored to be the Democratic nominee into the general election and carry the torch through the rest of the election," Neguse, a Lafayette resident, said at an election watch party at the Rayback Collective in Boulder.

Colorado Secretary of State voting totals, as of 4 a.m. Wednesday, had Neguse with about 66 percent of the vote over 33 percent for Mark Williams, a Boulder resident and former Boulder County Democratic Party chairman. More than 110,000 votes had been counted, with 90 percent of counties reporting.

Williams couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Though he is running in a heavily Democratic district, Neguse, a former University of Colorado regent and former director of the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, said Tuesday that he is going to continue to work hard up to November because the 2016 election showed that no election should be taken for granted.

He added that should he be elected, he plans to "fight for progressive values I think this district shares," including better health care, pushing back against the Trump administration "as it continually undercuts our freedoms and puts our democracy at risk" and gun violence prevention.

"There are a lot of pressing challenges and problems facing our country right now," he said. "I'm excited at the opportunity to potentially be a part of solving them."

Broomfield businessman Peter Yu is running unopposed for the Republican nomination. Independent candidate Nick Thomas, of Boulder, also will be on the general election ballot.

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