Shannon Watts will NOT Run for Congress… At Least Not Now

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. (Photo: Moms Demand Action)

Shannon Watts is not running for Congress.

The founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America told The Denver Post that she will not campaign to fill the seat of U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District. Polis is running for governor.

“I’m grateful to the support I received as I spent the summer considering a run for office in Colorado, particularly from women who are hoping a female candidate enters what is currently a race of all-male candidates,” said Watts, who founded Moms Demand Action in 2012 on the heels of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

“While Colorado has a significant amount of women represented in our state legislature, we need more women in leadership roles like governor and our members of Congress,” she continued. “I’ll work hard behind the scenes to make sure that happens.”

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Watts, who lives in Boulder, claimed that her role as an advocate for tougher gun laws and her activism to encourage women to jump into the political arena via Rise to Run is what’s keeping her on the sidelines this upcoming election season.

“Ultimately, I decided my work with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Rise to Run is more important than ever, given the election of Donald Trump, and right now I’m going to stay focused on helping to shape the laws and elections that impact women,” she said.

Power-hungry people like Watts are attracted to political office like moths to a flame.  I’d wager to guess that she’s bowed out not because of her day job cheerleading for gun control but because she wasn’t tracking well in the polls. Either that or the DNC told her to wait her turn.

Make no mistake though, Watts will eventually run for office.  It’s inevitable.  She’s got everything the DNC looks for in a candidate: contempt for the Constitution, name recognition built off of community organizing and oodles and oodles of money to buy public support via Bloomberg’s war chest.