Challenger to incumbent Democrat Joe Neguse faces a steep climb in Colorado’s deep blue 2nd Congressional District
Neguse, seeking a fourth term, faces a rematch with Republican Marshall Dawson
Spanning the Front Range to the northern and central mountains, Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District is one of the most geographically diverse in the state.
It represents several high-profile mountain resort areas — including Vail, Granby, Breckenridge and Steamboat Springs — in addition to the Front Range cities of Boulder and Fort Collins.
This upcoming election, voters will determine who they want representing the district — which includes all or parts of Boulder, Larimer, Jackson, Jefferson, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Eagle, Grand, Summit, Routt and Weld counties — in the U.S. House of Representatives.
All 435 seats in the House of Representatives will be up for grabs. Paired with dozens of statewide Senate elections, the outcome could put one party in full control of Congress — or lead to a divided government. Electorally, Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District remains a Democratic stronghold, having not voted for a Republican representative since 1972.
Here’s what district voters should know ahead of Election Day on Nov. 5:
Support Local Journalism
Who are the main party candidates?
Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District is currently represented by Rep. Joe Neguse, a third-term Boulder Democrat who first won the seat in 2018 and is running for re-election this year.
Neguse has risen through the ranks of House Democratic leadership, serving as an impeachment manager during former President Trump’s second impeachment in 2021 and being elected assistant minority leader earlier this year.
Before his time in Congress, Neguse served as the executive director of Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Agencies from 2015-2017 and as a member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents from 2008-2014.
His Republican opponent is Marshall Dawson, an electrical engineer based in Longmont who serves as a senior manager for an international semiconductor company. Before that, he owned his own business.
Dawson previously ran against Neguse in the 2022 midterm elections. Before running for Congress, Dawson served as a vice chairman of the Boulder County Republicans and president of Liberty Toastmasters North.
Three other candidates Jan Kok, Gaylon Kent and Cynthia Munhos de Aquino Sirianni, are running as a part of a minority party. A fourth candidate, Mike Watson, is running as an unaffiliated write-in option.
Neguse and Marshall on the issues
The district faces several challenges from a lack of affordable housing and high cost of living to balancing outdoor recreation with environmental conservation.
On housing, Neguse has proposed legislation that would codify the U.S. Forest Service’s ability to lease land to local governments to build income-based housing units, a provision that was already deployed in Summit County last year via the Farm Bill (The leasing authority has since expired, and it is unclear if and when it will be renewed.)
“It’s an innovative solution,” he said. “It’s not particularly controversial; it’s a very straightforward solution that could make a real difference.”
Dawson did not respond to multiple requests for an interview from the Vail Daily and his website does not list any policy proposals. But during a Sept. 21 debate in Grand Junction, which Neguse did not attend, Dawson said the federal government should play little to no role in response to various moderator questions — including affordable housing.
“The phrase affordable housing is kind of a catchphrase for ‘let’s take money away from middle class and wealthier individuals and create housing for the lower class,'” he said, adding that government regulations have increased the cost of building homes and in turn driven up prices.
Neguse has made environmental issues a core part of his platform in Congress, sponsoring several pieces of legislation in the House to bolster public land protection and the recreation economy. He has been a staunch advocate for policies meant to address climate change and supported and voted for the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act in 2023 — which amounted to the largest federal spending on clean energy in U.S. history.
He has also led the charge on passing sweeping land protection for Colorado through bills such as the Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act and the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act — both of which have advanced from the House but stalled in the Senate.
Dawson, during the Grand Junction forum, was critical of those measures, saying, “My opponent is really in favor of taking so many lands that we have here in Colorado and making them wilderness (areas) — turning them into environments that really can’t be enjoyed for many of the recreational things that we love about Colorado.”
Neguse said Dawson’s views on public lands are out of touch with the majority of district residents. He said Coloradans “who appreciate and enjoy our great outdoors” would be “deeply offended” by attempts to chip away at public lands protections.
Neguse is also a strong advocate for abortion rights, having voted multiple times in the House in favor of legislation to codify the protections in Roe v. Wade that was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022. He also supports the Colorado ballot measure in this upcoming election that would preserve abortion access in the state’s constitution.
Dawson supported the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that ended a 50-year constitutional right to abortion. In a June 2022 statement on his website following the Supreme Court’s decision, he wrote that it “rightfully gives power back to the states.”
Other campaign priorities for Neguse include universal health care coverage; lowering prescription drug costs; expanding Medicare, child care and food assistance; creating a federal paid leave program; protecting LGBTQ+ rights; gun control and voting rights reform.
While he said some of those policy ideas have bipartisan support, such as legislation that passed Congress least year protecting gay marriage, others would likely only be enacted if Democrats have strong majorities in both chambers.
Dawson argues the federal government and “bureaucrats” have amassed too much power over individuals’ lives saying, “There are people out there that are being hurt by the actions of our government, by too much government.”
Along with shrinking government spending and programs, he has previously advocated for more investments in school security measures, passing a law that would require Congressional approval on all federal regulations that have economic impacts of $100 million or more and reducing the self-employment tax.
What is the district’s electoral makeup?
The district has a long record of overwhelming support for Democratic candidates. In all of Neguse’s past three races, he has won with over 60% of the vote.
Before him, the seat was held for several terms by current Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who hails from Boulder, one of the district’s largest — and most reliably blue — voting populations.
Districtwide, there are more than double the number of Democrats as Republicans. According to data from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, the district had 161,005 registered Democrats and 78,615 registered Republicans as of Sept. 1.
Similar to statewide trends, the district’s largest voting block is unaffiliated voters with 245,234 people belonging to neither party.
Neguse maintains a massive fundraising and spending edge over Dawson. According to the most recent campaign filings, Neguse had nearly $2 million cash on hand compared to Dawson’s $13,687.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5. Ballots will be mailed to voters starting Friday, Oct. 11.
