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Republicans pick former ICE field office director to challenge Rep. Jason Crow in election

John Fabbricatore gets nod in 6th Congressional District; Democrats tee up 4th District special election

DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 2:  Staff portraits at the Denver Post studio.  (Photo by Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post)

The table has been set for the November matchup in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District, with Republicans this week choosing former federal immigration official John Fabbricatore to face off against incumbent Rep. Jason Crow.

John Fabbricatore was appointed field office director for the Denver branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2020. (Provided by ICE)
Former ICE field director, John Fabbricatore, will take on U.S. Rep. Jason Crow in November in Colorado’s 6th Congressional District election.

Fabbricatore was selected by the GOP’s 6th District caucus on Monday as the party’s nominee, meaning he will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. Khaleb Dammen had announced his candidacy to compete for the Republican nomination in the June primary, but Fabbricatore spokesman Mike Young said Dammen didn’t show for Monday’s caucus.

Fabbricatore spent his career in federal law enforcement, most recently as director of U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement’s Denver field office, which covers operations in Colorado and Wyoming. He also is a U.S. Air Force veteran, while Crow served as an Army Ranger.

Crow has represented the district that encompasses Aurora and much of Denver’s southern suburbs since 2019. He beat then-U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, a Republican who now serves as Aurora’s mayor, by more than 10 points in 2018 after Coffman had held the seat for a decade.

Crow coasted to victory again in 2020 and 2022 with even wider margins.

Fabbricatore, who retired from ICE in 2022, focused on the U.S. southern border in a statement issued after he secured the nomination Monday.

“Our border is in crisis with fentanyl, terrorists and other criminals crossing unvetted every day, making American families less safe,” he said. “I am running because Congress needs someone who knows how to enforce the law in Washington instead of a career politician, who is all talk, resulting in no results on public safety.”

In Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, Democrats on Monday chose Trisha Calvarese to take on former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez, a Republican, in the district’s June 25 special election to fill the rest of former Rep. Ken Buck’s term this year. That election will take place the same day as the parties’ primaries for the November election, which will determine who occupies the seat beginning in early 2025.

Calvarese is a writer for the National Science Foundation and a former speechwriter for the AFL-CIO.

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