Hoyer Recorded Urging Progressive Candidate Out of CO Race

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) urged a Democratic candidate for Colorado’s Sixth Congressional District to “get out of the race” to make way for a more moderate and centrist candidate, according to a recording obtained by The Intercept. Candidate Levi Tillemann, formerly an Obama Energy Department official, secretly recorded the meeting with Hoyer, who told him to drop out because the decision for candidate Jason Crow to be the Democratic favorite was “made early on by the Colorado delegation.” The conversation came after months of pressure from Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which allegedly denied Tillemann and other Democratic candidates in the Sixth District primary resources such as polling data and email lists for fundraising. Tillemann is a grandson of the late California Democratic Rep. Tom Lantos. A spokesman for Hoyer said “we do not comment on private meetings. Mr. Hoyer supports Crow and donated to him last year, but he hasn’t engaged in the race since then.”