Joe Neguse Makes History and Will Work to 'Keep Hope Alive".

                                                             by Annette Walker

     “With so much vitriol right now in Washington and our political system, we must remember that, while fear is contagious, so is hope," said Joe Neguse immediately following his electoral victory last November.   "Tonight, I am deeply hopeful for the future of our country, as we work together to rebuild our democracy." 

     Neguse's victory is historic, making him Colorado's first African-American to be elected to the United States Congress.  He represents the 2nd Congressional District which encompasses Boulder, Fort Collins, Vail, Grand Lake, Idaho Springs, Broomfield, Clear Creek, and Eagle, Gilpin, Grand, Jefferson, Summit and Park counties.  The district also includes Northglenn, Thornton and Westminster.

     Neguse has been a resident of Lafayette (Boulder County) for the past 15 years.  

     He replaces Governor-elect Jared Polis in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Neguse, a Democrat, won 60 percent of the vote over Republican Peter Yu's 34 percent as well as the Libertarian and independent candidates.

     At age 34, he is the youngest member of Colorado's Congressional delegation and one of the youngest in the U.S. Congress.  The son of Eritrean refugees who fled during the armed conflict against Ethiopia, Neguse is one of two newly-elected Congresspersons who are children of African immigrants.  (The other is Ilhan Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota.  Born in Somalia, her family fled that war-torn nation and in 1995 received refugee status in the United States.)

     Neguse's parents were granted asylum and became naturalized citizens.  Born in Bakersfield, California, he came to Colorado with his family when he was six years old.  They lived in Aurora and Littleton, and he graduated from Thunderidge High School in Douglas County.

     At Thunderidge he commenced what has become steady engagement in organizing and public service work.  "I was involved with student government and served as class president," he said.

     He attributes his continued activism to his parents' influence.

     "At an early age my parents emphasized the importance of taking advantage of opportunities that do not exist in all countries," he said.  "My parents never forgot nor took for granted the freedom and opportunities the United States gave them and their children."

     After graduation, he entered the University of Colorado at Boulder.  Under CU's tri-executive system, Neguse served as co-student body president.  Other Coloradans who held that position and later moved into politics are State Senator Steve Feinberg and State Representative Leslie Herod.

     Neguse points out that Colorado's public education system is one of the lowest-funded in the United States.  "During my time as a tri-executive one of our goals was to increase funding for public education."

     He majored in political science and economics and graduated 'summa cum laude'.

     One of his first jobs was working for then-Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives Andrew Romanoff.  During that time Neguse co-founded New Era Colorado, which became the state's largest youth voter registration and mobilization non-profit in Colorado.

     The organization, which has been featured in the New York Times and Time magazine, registered thousands of young people to vote across the state.  It also secured passage of legislation at the state level for online voter registration and voter pre-registration for 16 and 17-year-old persons.  Climate change has also been a key focus for the group.

     "New Era Colorado was an effort to encourage young people to get involved in the political process," Neguse said.  "We know that when more people participate, we have a better outcome."

     He enrolled in CU's law school and while there was elected in 2008 to represent the 2nd Congressional District o the CU Board of Regents.  He was the second African-American to be elected a Regent.  He served a six-year term on the Board, which oversees the CU System and is the fourth largest employer in the state with an operating budget of $3.4 billion.  For two years he was Chair of the Audit Committee.

     As a Regent, Neguse fought to make higher education more affordable and accessible.  He sponsored several resolutions that received bi-partisan support, including efforts to lower student health insurance costs and make voter registration more accessible to students, as well as working to increase wages for the University's lowest paid workers.

     In 2014 he was a candidate for Colorado Secretary of State.  He lost to Wayne Williams, 47.5% to 44.9%.  

     Following his term as Regent, Neguse was appointed at age 31 by Governor John Hickenlooper to lead the state's Consumer Protection Agency, making him one of the youngest people to serve in a state Cabinet across the country.  He led the department--an agency with roughly 600 employees and a $90 million budget--for two years, leading the fight to expand economic opportunities by protecting the civil rights of every Coloradan and strengthening consumer protections and safeguards.

     During his tenure the agency achieved key victories, including the recovery of millions of dollars for consumers, investigations culminating in significant financial-fraud cases, the championing of legislation to combat financial fraud against seniors, and the launching of the state's first online filing system for civil rights discrimination complaints.  

     In recognition of his work to expand the agency's consumer protection mission, Neguse was awarded the 2017 'Consumer Protection Award' by the International Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation.

     Neguse's campaign platform included supporting a single-payer Medicare-for-all type plan that Jarred Polis also championed in Congress.  During last year's campaign he elaborated on his health-care vision during an interview with Westword publication.

     "When I visit with folks across the district, . . . . .one thing is clear:  Folks are incredibly concerned about their ability to afford quality health care.  A family shouldn't have to choose between paying their mortgage and taking their children to the doctor.  Families shouldn't have to go bankrupt if a loved one gets sick.  From my perspective, the solution is universal health care," he said.

     "And we should fight for that not just on moral grounds, but on economic grounds.  In the current system, we spend more per capita related to our GDP on health care than any other country in the Western world, countries like Canada Australia and various countries in Europe.  We also have poor health outcomes on a number of different statistical fronts.  You look at infant mortality rates as one example, or maternal mortality rates compared to those countries that have some form of universal health care," he continued.

                                         Endorsements

     Given Neguse's passion for universal health care and lowering the cost of public education, it is not surprising that before the November election, Senator Bernie Sanders turned up in Boulder to stump for Neguse as well as Jared Polis.

     Neguse received an impressive range of endorsements.  Most notable was support from labor organizations, including Colorado AFL-CIO, Communication Workers of America, United Food and Commercial Workers, AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, National Association of Letter Carriers, Airline Pilots Association, American Postal Workers Union, Local 105 of SEIU (Service Employees International Union), Pipefitters Union Local 208, Plumbers Union Local 301, Colorado Professional Fire Fighters, SMART (International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers), and the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters. 

     He also received broad support from elected and former elected officials from the 2nd Congressional District and other parts of Colorado.  Former Mayor Wellington Webb and former State Representative Wilma Webb as well as current African-American elected officials endorsed Neguse.  State Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman, former State Senator Polly Baca, State Senators Leroy Garcia and Dominick Moreno, and State Board of Education member Val Flores were among the plethora of support received.

     Neguse is settling into his new role in Washington, D.C. with his wife Andrea (who is from Broomfield) and infant daughter, Natalie.

     "I will continue my work to raise the minimum wage and to ensure Medicare-for-all," he said.  He has some optimism regarding bi-partisanship in Congress.  "I believe Democrats and Republicans can work together on legislation regarding infrastructure, the drug crisis and immigration," he said.

     Joseph (Joe) Neguse joins Rev. Jesse Jackson (‘Keep Hope Alive’) and former President Barack Obama (‘The Audacity of Hope’) in using the political platform to inspire hope.

     He has confidence in his role to positively influence the daily lives of Colorado residents.  He is working fearlessly to represent the voice of the people with his favorite saying in mind, "Fear may be contagious, but so is hope".

     (This article originally appeared in the February 2019 issue of the Denver Urban Spectrum.)