Angela Veronica "Angie" Paccione (born February 21, 1960) is an American politician and former Colorado legislator who was a 2006 Congressional candidate.

In 2006, she was the Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress in Colorado's 4th Congressional district, narrowly losing to two-term incumbent Republican Marilyn Musgrave.

[1] Between 1988 and 1992, eight monetary relief claims were filed against Paccione for uncollected debt, and she was sued by the state of Colorado for unpaid student loans.

[5] Briefly seeking the Democratic Congressional nomination in 2002, Paccione stepped aside in favor of Stan Matsunaka, and then sought the state legislative seat being vacated by Rep. Bob Bacon.

[12] Fort Collins businessman Larry Chisesi also sought the Democratic nomination, and, at first, the two agreed to avoid a primary by means of a coin toss.

Paccione, however, lost the coin toss but ran for election anyway, ultimately defeating Chisesi in the Democratic primary with 56 percent of the vote.

She defeated Republican Kirk Brush by roughly 700 votes, or about 4 percentage points,[14] and was sworn in during January 2003 as a member of the minority party in a Republican-controlled legislature.

[19] A 2006 special session of the Colorado General Assembly, called to address immigration issues, became a focal point Paccione's Congressional campaign against Marilyn Musgrave (see below).

[22] After forming an exploratory committee in June 2005,[23] Paccione announced, in September 2005, her intention to challenge two-term incumbent Republican Marilyn Musgrave for Colorado's Fourth Congressional District, in what evolved into a highly competitive battle the Cook Report rated a "toss-up" race for the historically Republican seat.

[21] In addition to the closeness of the race, the contest made national headlines in June 2006, when a Democratic activist, unconnected with the Paccione campaign, left a flyer filled with dog feces at Musgrave's office in Greeley.

[26] The Paccione campaign denied any knowledge of the action and the activist who left the flier was charged but acquitted of criminal use of a noxious substance.

Paccione joined him during a highly publicized photo opportunity in which Schiavo hand-delivered a letter critical of Musgrave to her Congressional office in Loveland.

An October poll showing Musgrave with a 10-percentage point advantage led the DCCC to withdraw plans to spend $630,000 on television and radio advertising.

In response, Fort Collins philanthropist Pat Stryker donated $720,000 to local 527 groups to advertise in favor of Paccione.

[42] In May 2007, Paccione filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission[43] and began raising money for a second congressional run.