Karen Cullen

By Don Knox, STATE BILL COLORADO
Bed-and-breakfast co-owner Karen Cullen of Manitou Springs has filed paperwork to run for the House District 18 seat that’s being vacated by term-limited Mike Merrifield.
Cullen is the first GOP candidate to file to run. Pete Lee, a Democrat, entered the race last year.
With fewer than 40 percent of voters in the district registered to either the Democratic or Republican parties, House District 18 is among 22 of 65 House seats considered by State Bill Colorado to be “truly competitive.”
Unaffiliated voters account for 37 percent of voters in the district, as of August 2009. Democrats had 34 percent of registered voters, and Republicans 27 percent.
Merrifield has held the seat since its creation in 2000.
According to The Constitutionalist Today, Cullen said at her candidacy announcement earlier this month that “It’s not about government creating jobs, it’s about government getting out of the way of business so that business can do what it does best—provide real and productive jobs that can actually GROW our economy.”
State Bill Colorado has updated its election tracker to reflect this candidacy.