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Romanoff Hopes Economic Message Will Resonate

As part of its Campaign 2014 coverage, CBS4 is profiling six candidates in three extremely close elections in Colorado. Andrew Romanoff, a former Speaker of the House in the state legislature, is facing incumbent Mike Coffman to represent Colorado's 6th congressional district. Profiles of the candidates in the governor and U.S. Senate races will run in the next two weeks.

DENVER (CBS4) - In a bit of political reinvention, Andrew Romanoff moved to Colorado's 6th U.S. House district to challenge for its congressional seat.

But, in a sense, the district has also revamped itself.

Before its boundaries were redrawn in 2012, the 6th was composed of more rural areas to Denver's south, west and east. The district is now much more suburban after incorporating western portions of Adams and Arapahoe counties, part of northern Douglas County and cities like Brighton, Centennial, Littleton and parts of Aurora.

That's made it much more competitive.

Enter Romanoff, who is looking to become the first Democrat to represent the district since its inception in 1983.

In a district evenly split by Republicans, Democrats and independents, Romanoff is focusing on his economic message to broadly appeal to the 6th's constituents.

RELATED: Coffman's Campaign More Inclusive As District Changes

"If you meet with folks in this district, as I have, and you talk about an economic recovery, a lot of folks are still waiting and wishing that Congress would increase the minimum wage," Romanoff said. "I've talked to janitors and fast-food workers who are struggling to make ends meet on a minimum wage that hasn't kept up with inflation in the last 40 years."

He said he supports a minimum wage increase.

He's also said frequently that cutting waste and abuse in government would help trim debt. Romanoff, who fashions himself as a fiscal hawk, said raising taxes should be a last resort.

"That's not part of my plan. You ought to collect the taxes that people and corporations already owe. I'm not talking about increasing tax rates. I'm talking about collecting legal obligations, which a lot of folks, because of tax evasion, are skirting," Romanoff said, claiming that if the government collected all outstanding taxes owed, it would contribute $450 to $500 billion in annual federal revenue.

Romanoff says the best way to balance the budget is to grow the economy because it means more people are working and paying taxes to cut the annual deficit. He said he believes negotiating better prescription drug prices and policing fraud in entitlement programs would save costs.

"When comes to federal budget, there is too much waste. There is too little effort to examine every expenditure. And before anybody proposes any increase in federal taxes, they ought to be able to ensure taxpayers that we're wringing every ounce of waste out of the system," he said. "That's not a conversation that Congress is having now, either."

Major Health Care Changes Now Would Be 'Disruptive'

Another major tenant of this year's campaign is the Affordable Care Act, which Romanoff supports.

In his 2010 primary campaign for the U.S. Senate, Romanoff said he supported a single-payer system as an alternative to President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. But during debates and on the campaign trail this year, he maintains that the current law needs to be improved -- something a single-payer plan wouldn't do.

"It would be disruptive to the country and awfully disorderly to businesses that are trying to comply to change the rules in the middle of the game," he said.

He said that efforts to repeal the law, which have occurred dozens of times in the GOP-controlled House in the last couple years, aren't fruitful.

"You can't go backward now," Romanoff said.

Congress should tweak the law, he said, and build on progress. That's not happening, he said: "There is no appetite on Capitol Hill to take a look at what works and what doesn't work and fix it."

'Regret' Followed 2006 Measure That Punished Illegal Immigrants

While House Speaker in Colorado in 2006, Romanoff led a state effort to pass a law considered one of the harshest anti-immigration laws in the nation.

He now says he supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants and that the legislation nearly a decade ago was actually a compromise to ward off an even more draconian amendment to Colorado's constitution.

"I regret that we were forced into a special session by the governor and, frankly, by Mike Coffman and the other folks who were pushing a constitutional amendment. I think a lot of folks who weren't here in 2006 may not know the circumstances," Romanoff said.

He said Bill Owens, the governor at the time, demanded the amendment appear on the ballot, which Romanoff said would have prevented the state from providing services to illegal immigrants without exceptions for children or public health and safety.

"That was a bad idea," he said.

That's why there was a compromise, he maintains.

Nearly 20 percent of the district's residents are Hispanic, raising the profile of immigration issues.

Romanoff said he wished Colorado legislators were more successful getting Congress to act on broader reform.

"We're still talking about that because Washington hasn't done anything in eight years," he said. "That's my biggest regret."

What's Good For The Environment Is Good For Colorado, Romanoff Says

In a debate on Sept. 23, Romanoff said he believes humans are largely responsible for changes in the climate. Coffman disagreed, a distinction Romanoff has cited repeatedly.

During his time in the state legislature, Romanoff supported measures that would have increased protections for Colorado's water and air and created more incentives for solar and geothermal studies.

"Our district is home to businesses I've visited that are taking advantage of our transition to a clean-energy economy, creating good middle-class jobs, investing in sun and wind, biomass (and) geothermal energy sources," he said. "They recognize it's good for our environment, good for our health, good for our economy and good for our national security."

Romanoff has said he'll push to devote more money to research of renewable energy, if elected, and attempt to decrease reliance on traditional energy sources.

"I don't see fossil fuels as the future of America," he said at the debate.

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