Week 4: Running under the Forward Party banner

Dear Colorado Voter,

Each of my first three campaign email updates focused on one of my priority issues. This week I'm writing about the political landscape and running under the Forward Party banner.

Week 4 of my 38-week campaign was busy for the major political parties. Thousands of Coloradans participated in caucuses. Major-party candidates for Secretary of State get onto the primary ballot via either

• the caucus/assembly route (get 30% of the vote in the state assembly), or

• candidate petitions (get 1,000 signatures from registered party members in each of the 8 congressional districts). Seven years ago, my friend Britta Singer and I persuaded Senator Steve Fenberg to incorporate in House Bill 19-1278 more reasonable signature requirements for Secretary of State and other offices!

Minor parties rarely have primary elections. Usually only one candidate from the party runs for each seat and is nominated straight to the general-election ballot.

In our two-party system, when both major parties run strong candidates, the minor-party candidate is not seen as viable or, worse, is considered a spoiler. With our "choose-one" voting method, a voter who supports a minor-party candidate typically either "wastes" her vote on her preferred candidate or ends up voting for the "lesser of two evils" to have some influence in the election.

Whenever three or more candidates run in a competitive election, there is the risk of a spoiler candidate. I do not want to be a spoiler. Two Secretary of State Democratic candidates filed to run months ago and have raised a lot of money. One will emerge as the Democratic Party nominee. The Democratic Party is expected to have the edge in statewide ballot contests this year. Four Republican candidates are running but don't appear to be viable candidates.

I think I bring the best perspective to the office and want to offer voters another choice. I will appear on the November ballot with, I anticipate, only one other viable candidate. As a serious candidate running on a nonpartisan Forward Party platform, I hope to gain support from voters across the political spectrum, including many unaffiliated voters who make up half the Colorado electorate. I'm in it to win it!

To win, I need your help to spread news about my candidacy and my priorities. Please encourage people to check out my website, sign up for these email updates, attend or host an upcoming event, learn about the issues (read our first press release), and consider contributing to fund my travel around the state.

If you want campaign news more often than once a week, please follow the campaign on social media. See the bottom of any website page https://www.celeste4sos.com/ for links to our social media accounts.

With enthusiasm and purpose,

Celeste