Just days after ColoradoS Primary Election Day in June, Dr. Shimon Blau decided he too would run to represent Colorados First Congressional District as an unaffiliated candidate.
During a recent interview with Denver7 Anchor Micah Smith, Blau explained his decision to run and his hopes for winning over Denver voters without the backing of a major political party.
I was born and raised here in Denver, Colorado. I am a physician and a small business owner as well, so I understand the challenges that our small businesses are facing right now. And you know, one of the main reasons why I entered this race was because of anti-Semitic rhetoric from my opponent, Miss Melat Kiros. To this day, she still has been unwilling to call the brutal murder of Karen Diamond in Boulder an act of anti-Semitism, Blau said.
But Blau said he was also concerned about Kiros being a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
They're calling for abolishing the Senate and the government takeover of our businesses, getting rid of our borders. This is really crazy and scary stuff. The answer to MAGA on the far right is not more MAGA from the far left because that's what the DSA really is. It's extremism and MAGA on the far left. You know, before I entered this race, I couldn't believe that our options were MAGA on the far right or an anti-Semitic socialist on the far left. And at some point, somebody's just got to be the adult in the room and say, 'enough is enough'. Enough with the extremism, Blau said.
Blau has faced criticism for past social media posts uncovered by 9News in which Blau allegedly urged followers to sign a petition to block Syrian refugees who could be a "Trojan Horse for Radical Islam".
Blau was asked about his past posts and if he feels differently now.
So I do feel differently today, but I also want to point out that I had to go back afterwards and see what he was referencing, Blau said. Back then, a lot of Syrian refugees were going into European countries, and they were expecting women and children. Instead, a lot of men in their 20s and 30s, were coming in, and their crime rates were increasing. Over 65% of governors at the time were actually calling for better vetting, and that's all that was.
Blau was asked whether his opinion and subsequent posts on the topic could be viewed as Islamophobic.
I don't think it was worded well. It was, it was probably not worded well, Blau replied.
Blau was also asked if elected, what he would say to Muslim constituents who worry about his views on Islam.
I'm somebody who has treated 10s of 1000s of patients over the past 20 years as a physician, and you know some of my best conversations have been with my Muslim patients. We're cousins. We are cousins. My Muslim patients actually tend to understand, you know, Middle East politics better than your typical American because they've lived through a lot of those experiences, and I'm here to represent everybody in Denver, Blau said.
Blau said his top three policy focus areas are healthcare, affordability, and helping small businesses.
There are ways that we can start bringing healthcare costs down. One thing that we can do is hold insurance companies accountable to cut out a lot of the red tape. Right now, insurance companies love to deny medical procedures and tests. Over 70% of those tests and procedures end up being approved, Blau said. The other major, major thing that I'm pushing for is affordability. I think that we have to push this administration to get out of Iran. The war in Iran is increasing our gas costs. It is causing grocery costs to go up.
Blau would also like to work on decreasing tariffs.
I'd also push for increased funding to the Small Business Administration and an increased presence here in Denver, , so that we can have good-paying jobs here in Denver and make sure that our small businesses can thrive, Blau said.
As an unaffiliated candidate, if elected, Blau plans to caucus with the Democrats.
There's a couple of reasons why I am committed to caucusing with the Democrats. The first is I hope that there's a blue wave next week, and we can finally start holding Donald Trump accountable. The other reason why: it's the will of the people. I mean, we have traditionally voted blue for many years, and I'm not here to change the status quo. I'm here to represent the people, Blau said.
Blau continued, And lastly, I think over the past couple of years, what we've seen is a we've seen Congress ceding a lot of their power to the executive branch, to the presidency, and we have to bring that power back to Congress to maintain that equilibrium in our government. As an independent, though, I can work across the aisle because I'm not beholden to either party, and the only people that I'm beholden to are the people of Denver.
Blau said he also would not accept PAC money, including from AIPAC or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
I have not been accepting any PAC money at all. My personal belief is that you know outside interests should not be able to influence our politics because they do now you know multiple organizations. There are so many different PACs. It's made things difficult for my campaign, but you know I am committed to not taking any PAC money, Blau said.
If he had three word to describe what voters can expect from Blau as a congressman if elected, Blau said his words would be authenticity, honesty, and dedication.
Those are the things that I'm committed to here in Denver. I was born and raised in the Sloans Lake neighborhood, Blau said. My parents were both immigrants. They had successes, failures, and successes, but they always gave back to the community, and they've really passed that on to me as well, giving back to the community. And I'm here to serve, and I can't wait to serve the people of Denver.
