Ferrandino says HD-40 will turn red; HD-17 may go blue

Colorado House District 40 will turn Republican this year, predicted state Rep. Mark Ferrandino (D-Denver), but he said Democrats should do well in other state legislative races.

"We have a lot of seats we need to protect," Ferrandino told PolitickerCO.com. "And when you get in the majority and you have this much of a margin of 40 to 25 -- and actually, really, 39 to 26 because the Debbie Stafford seat (in House District 40) is, you know, a pretty safe Republican seat -- we're spending a lot of time making sure our incumbents win."

Republican Cindy Acree and Democrat Karen Wilde are vying to succeed Stafford, who is term-limited.

But Ferrandino said he was confident about Democrats performing well in other state House races -- including state Rep. Joe Rice (D-Littleton), who's running for re-election in House District 38 against Republican David Kerber.

He also said state House District 17, currently held by outgoing state Rep. Stella Garza Hicks (R-Colorado Springs), is "in play." Democrat Denis Apuan faces Republican Kit Roupe in that race.

Ferrandino said that Apuan and other Democratic candidates would benefit from Barack Obama's presidential campaign, which is targeting pockets of minority voters in areas that are otherwise significantly Republican.

"I think Obama's going to win this state," Ferrandino said. "I think that's going to trickle down to help our House races, especially in Denis' race where people are really feeling the hurt of the economic problems."