Dawn Downs running for 8th JD - Reporter-Herald
Thomas Clayton
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Dawn Downs running for 8th Judicial District Attorney seat
Former member of 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office running as an unaffiliated candidate
Dawn Downs, a former prosecutor with the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, has announced she will seek the seat of District Attorney in the 2024 election.
Downs, who currently serves as the Public Safety Section chief attorney for the City of Fort Collins, announced her run in a release at the beginning of August; she will be running as an unaffiliated candidate.
Dawn Downs (Photo courtesy of Dawn Downs)“I miss the work,” she told the Reporter-Herald on why she wants to run for the office. “I miss the District Attorney’s Office. I miss the work that we do. I miss seeking justice for victims and standing up for victims. I miss keeping our community safe. I miss working with our community partners in law enforcement for that common goal.”
Downs served with the DA’s Office for 14 years and oversaw cases ranging from homicides to violent assaults to arson and more, according to her announcement release. She was ultimately promoted to Chief Deputy District Attorney where she supervised the District Court Felony Division, which included 17 attorneys and several administrative staff.
She said that her 14 years with the office was fantastic and provided her the ability to learn and grow as a prosecutor.
She said that, if she was selected to be the next DA she would have several focuses for both the office and the community at large.
For the office itself she said she feels she could bring an important level of stability and experience to an office that has lost many prosecutors over the last few years.
As for the community, she said she would want to lead an office that listened to victims and gives them a voice.
“We can never undo the harm that has been caused to them, but we can try to help them find a path forward that is productive for them and to be able to move past … whatever that victimization was,” she said.
In her release, Downs also commented that she feels the community deserves a district attorney who is “motivated by public safety, not politics.” She told the Reporter-Herald that, as an unaffiliated voter, she would be more focused on the people and not political issues.
“The district attorney’s job isn’t that of a legislator; to create the laws and write the laws,” she said. “Legislators do that, the police enforce the laws and the district attorney enforce the laws to seek justice for people and hold people accountable.”
She also said that, if she were elected, she would not only be the first unaffiliated DA but also the first woman to hold the position, adding it excites her to think about “all the doors it (could) open.”
But overall, Downs said she feels local voters should choose her as the next DA in 2024 because of her experience and what she would bring to the office.
“I want to stand up for our community members to keep us safe, to seek justice and accountability, for not just myself and the office but also for offenders,” she said. “We have to all work together to do that, and I want to be very community focused and driven for what Larimer and Jackson (counties) need without the interruptions from what politics is driving.”
 | Tom Clayton Communication and Media Specialist, Public Affairs |
| Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St, Fort Collins, 80522 | 2nd Floor W: (970) 498-7005 tcla...@larimer.org | www.larimer.org |