Colorado at a Glance State Profile - Gov. Owens (R) - Sen. Campbell (R) - Sen. Allard (R) Presidential Politics Congressional Districting - 01 - DeGette (D) - 02 - Udall (D) - 03 - McInnis (R) - 04 - Schaffer (R) - 05 - Hefley (R) - 06 - Tancredo (R) Almanac 2000 Home States & Districts Elected Officials For district profiles and additional information on the elected officials of Colorado, please use the pull-down menu above.

A generation ago, most people in metro Denver lived in the city itself; at the city limits the tree-shaded sidewalks gave way to the empty High Plains. Today, three-quarters of metro Denver residents live outside the city. Just south of Denver, in Arapahoe County, are the comfortable and affluent suburbs, pioneered in the 1940s and 1950s, of Englewood, Cherry Hills and Littleton, the site in April 1999 of the nation's deadliest school massacre. Aurora, to the east, benefited at first from the growth around now-closed Stapleton Airport, but has grown big enough--from 50,000 in 1965 to 220,000 in 1990--to support its own regional mall. West in Jefferson County, which since 1992 has cast more votes than Denver, are Lakewood and Wheat Ridge, creations of the 1960s and 1970s, affluent but not elite suburbs with winding streets and office complexes, including Lakewood's gigantic Denver Federal Center. Up against the Front Range is Golden, the headquarters of Coors beer and the Coors family which funds so many conservative causes, and of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which develops solar energy exports.

The 6th Congressional District of Colorado covers most of this suburban territory. This is mostly Republican terrain. The dominant tone is technical and managerial, and many people here yearn for the certainty of traditional limits. They value their environment, but they also see the need for economic growth and scientific innovation--both of which they think liberals tend to underrate.

The congressman from the 6th District is Tom Tancredo, a self-described religious right Republican, who was elected after a turbulent campaign in 1998. Tancredo grew up on the northside of Denver, taught junior high school civics, and in 1976, at 30, was elected to the state House. He was part of a group called ''the Crazies,'' who zeroed out the sales tax on food and utilities, the inheritance tax and the auto safety inspection tax. In 1981 he became head of the regional office of the Education Department; he cut its staff by two-thirds. In 1993 he became head of the Independence Institute, a libertarian think tank in Golden.

In January 1998, Dan Schaefer, the only congressman the 6th has ever had, announced he was retiring; he was elected in March 1983 after astronaut Jack Swygert, elected in November 1982, died in December before taking office. For four years Schaefer chaired the Energy and Power Subcommittee of Commerce; he exited saying his two main goals, ending the Cold War and eliminating the deficit, had been achieved. Tancredo, an energetic and active speaker, jumped into the race, but he was not the only candidate in the primary; there were rumors for a moment that Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, a well-known Republican, would run. Instead, it was a contest of local pols: Tancredo and legislator Barry Arrington on the right; legislator Martha Kreutz, running to counter the influence of the religious right; former Ambassador Sam Zakhem, the only candidate with enough money to advertise on TV; legislator Bill Schroeder, a moderate endorsed by road contractors and home builders. Not until May did the Democrats have a candidate, 70-year-old businessman Henry Strauss. Tancredo campaigned by walking the district and running radio ads the last 10 days; his big break was an endorsement by former Senator (1979-91) Bill Armstrong, a religious conservative who has stayed active in the Denver area. Armstrong's endorsement was worth 5% of the vote Tancredo said, and he needed it: he led with 25% to 22% for Schroeder, 19% for Kreutz, 17% for Zakhem, and 16% for Arrington.

Tancredo's victory gave Democrats the idea they might win, and Strauss had enough money--he gave his campaign $230,000--to put on a real campaign. Tancredo campaigned on his issues: sunset the Internal Revenue code in 2003 and move to a flat tax, cut the federal and state governments out of education and let markets work, ban partial-birth abortions. Strauss, a refugee from Nazi Germany as a child, evidently regarded Tancredo, a lapsed Catholic who began attending an evangelical Presbyterian church in 1990, as a threat to democracy for opposing minimum wage increases, light rail funding and federal aid to education. Then Strauss ran a TV ad based on a speech Tancredo had given: ''Gathering at night to lash out at our government--a militia group with featured speaker, Tom Tancredo. A militia linked to white supremacists and the racist Aryan Nation … and called 'dangerous' by the FBI.'' Then, ''Tom Tancredo admits he's met with groups even more extreme than this militia.'' But Tancredo had spoken to many groups and the ''more extreme'' groups he mentioned were forums with Patricia Schroeder. The Rocky Mountain News called this ad a smear and wrote, ''If Strauss really believes this, then he is one of the silliest men in America.''

Tancredo won, not with anything like Schaefer's percentages, but by the comfortable margin of 56%-42%. Invited to the White House for a reception for new members, he declined: ''I'm not going. I've been to the White House when we had a real president.'' He also declined to attend the 1999 State of the Union address. Tancredo's home is in Littleton, six bocks from Columbine High School. Gun ownership was prevalent in the working class neighborhood where Tancredo was raised, and he supports the Second Amendment, pointing out that Colorado has stronger gun-control laws than the federal government. ''If I had my way, I would take away the evil in man's heart that makes it destructive,'' he said. Tancredo got seats on the Education and International Relations committees. He has promised to serve no more than the three terms imposed by Colorado's now invalidated term limits on congressmen.

Cook's Call:
Probably Safe. Though Tancredo is certainly more controversial than his rather low-key predecessor, it's unlikely he will lose given the substantial Republican advantage in this suburban Denver district.

The People:

• Pop. 1990: 548,788
• 4.8% rural; 8.3% age 65+;
• 91.8% White, 3.5% Black, 2.3% Asian, 0.5% Amer. Indian, 6.2% Hispanic origin; 1.9% Other.
• Households: 55.2% married couple families; 27.5% married couple fams. w. children; 68% college educ.; median household income: $37,333; per capita income: $18,289; median gross rent: $414; median house value: $92,400.

1996 Presidential Vote Dole (R) 118,856 (49%) Clinton (D) 103,376 (43%) Perot (I) 13,858 (6%)

1992 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 101,679 (38%) Clinton (D) 98,875 (37%) Perot (I) 68,186 (25%)