Aurora activist Hashim Coates announces campaign for Arapahoe County commission

“I want to focus on housing. I feel it’s a human fundamental necessity, and it cannot be overstated,” he said.

AURORA | Political consultant and LGBTQ advocate Hashim Coates will seek election to the Arapahoe County commission this year, promising to promote affordable housing, environmental justice and a holistic approach to public safety.

“I want people to know that I will always be unbought, and bossed by the people,” Coates said. “The same tenacity that people have seen from me that have caused them to maybe call me a lightning rod, I am willing to do that work for the people of District 5, because I believe that every single life is valuable. I don’t cower to respectability politics.”

The Aurora resident joins Democratic state Sen. Rhonda Fields seeking party nomination for the Arapahoe County Commission District 5 seat currently held by Bill Holen. The position would be Coates’ first time holding elected office, while Fields has represented Aurora in Colorado’s General Assembly for more than a decade.

As of Monday, Coates and Fields were the only two to have filed paperwork formalizing their candidacy with the state.

Growing up in Denver’s Park Hill neighborhood, Coates said he took an interest in public service and politics from a young age, helping out at his church and listening to his grandmother tell stories about supporting Arie Taylor in Taylor’s journey to become the first Black woman to serve in Colorado’s House of Representatives.