Dr. Shimon Blau, the Denver doctor who announced July 5 that he wanted to run as an independent in Colorado’s Congressional District 1, has submitted the necessary signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State.
Blau announced his intent to stand on July 5 and was approved at 4 p.m. the following day, July 6. He was required to collect and submit 1,500 signatures by July 9 in order to appear on the November ballot. Shortly after the deadline, he announced that his team submitted 2,200 signatures. The Sec. of State has until July 30 to validate the signatures. If approved, he will face Democratic primary winner Melat Kiros and Republican nominee Christy Peterson in November.
“This historic accomplishment was not mine. It was yours,” Blau said in his announcement. “It was thousands of Coloradans saying they are tired of division, tires of extremism from every direction, and tired of hateful rhetoric.”
In his initial announcement, Blau said he was motivated to run following Melat Kiros’ in in the Democratic primary against longtime incumbent Diana DeGette.
“I am particularly concerned by what I view as Ms. Kiros’ anti-Semitic rhetoric and her refusal to meet with leaders of Denver’s Jewish community to address their concerns,” Blau said.
Blau, who was born and raised in Denver, works as a medical doctor in the field of pain management. He motivated a team of dedicated volunteers who traversed the city and opened their homes to enable CD1 voters to sign his petition.
“Watching so many of you become emotional as you shared why this campaign matters only strengthened my conviction that this race is worth running,” Blau said to his volunteers. “No matter what happens, you proved something extraordinary over these past few days. When people come together around hope instead of fear, and unity instead of division, remarkable things can happen.”
