Has an Incumbent Ever Lost in a Primary in Colorado?

Two really big names: Byron Rogers and Wayne Aspinall!

Byron Rogers "was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-second and to the ten succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1951-January 3, 1971). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1970 to the Ninety-second Congress. He was a resident of Denver, Colorado until his death there December 31, 1983. He was interred in Mount Lindo Cemetery near Tiny Town, Colorado." (Wikipedia)
  Rogers lost to anti-war candidate Craig Barnes, who then lost to Republican DA "Iron Mike" McKevitt.  McKevitt, in turn, lost to (drum roll, please) Pat Schroeder in 1972.

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by: Voyageur @ Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 20:33:28 PM UTC

We knew you would come through, Voyageur!

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by: Colorado Pols @ Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 20:38:43 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Further proof that I don't have enough to do!

Actually, I'm doing some legal research today and happen to be on my computer.  As a young reporter for UPI, I covered both races.

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by: Voyageur @ Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 20:43:22 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Now, the really big one, Aspinall

Wayne Norviel Aspinall (April 3, 1896 - October 9, 1983) was a lawyer and politician from Colorado. He is largely known for his tenure in the United States House of Representatives, serving as a Democrat from 1949-1973 from Colorado's Fourth District. Aspinall became known for his direction of the House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, of which he was the chairman from 1959-1973. Aspinall focused the majority of his efforts on western land and water issues.

His actions supporting resource development often drew the ire of the increasingly powerful environmental lobby in the 1960s. David Brower, a prominent executive director of the Sierra Club, said that the environmental movement had seen "dream after dream dashed on the stony continents of Wayne Aspinall." The congressman returned the animosity, calling environmentalists "over-indulged zealots" and "aristocrats" to whom "balance means nothing." This battle shaped Aspinall's congressional career.

-- Wikipedia

 Aspinall fell victim to environmentalist Alan Merson in the 1972 Democratic primary.  Blinded by his power in Washington, Aspinall overlooked two vital changes in the voter Demographic.  Reapportionment had added Adams County to his district, where his advocacy of natural resource development meant little to voters.  He also ignored the advent of the 18-year old vote -- effective for the first time that year.  This brought an influx of new, first-time voters, to the primary who were much more environmentally minded than Aspinall's old base.  Wayne normally drew heavily from Republicans and Unafilliateds and cruised to re-election.  None of those could help him in the Democratic primary.  
 Ironically, the Republicans assumed Aspinall was unbeatable -- and really didn't want to beat him anyway.  Thus, they nominated the relatively liberal -- and anti-war -- Jim Johnson.   After Aspinall's defeat, Johnson won election and became a thorn in the side of the right-wing Republicans in Colorado.    

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by: Voyageur @ Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 20:41:18 PM UTC

Aspinall - According to his Administrative Assistant Bill Cleary

Bill Cleary would argue that Aspinall was not really the incumbent in the new 4th CD of the 1972 election.

Aspinall was set to retire after the 1970 term, but redistricting had gone so poorly for Democrats, Aspinall was seen as the only viable option to keep the 4th CD seat in the Dem column.

More than just the Adams County issue, the District went from a North South District of the entire West Slope to a split Northern District with Grand Junction/ Palisade being in with Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley and Adams County. Aspinall lost the entire southern portion of the district and Pueblo.  

A State Legislator named Bill Armstrong created a Lakewood/ suburban district for himself with the new congressional seat Colorado had secured in redistricting.  This screwed Aspinall and the West Slope.

The cool end of the story: Aspinall made a special trip to DC.  He took Jim Johnson around to the Speaker of the House and every chair of every committee and introduced Johnson as "my congressman".  

Aspinall was a very classy person.  

 

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by: johnpauljones @ Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 22:43:07 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

And Bill Cleary stayed on with Johnson

as his chief of staff. Imagine that happening today with the intense partisanship of congressional staffs, which is actually worse than their bosses'.

Sometimes, I guess, you have to let the inner bitch out.

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by: gertie97 @ Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 23:24:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Aspinall & Wilderness

Aspinall was the major roadblock to faster passage of the Wilderness Act, as committee chair.  The Act took 8 years in Congress to pass.  I heard some funny stories from The Wilderness Society lobbyist that faced off against Aspinall for those years, who has since passed away.  

President Johnson finally signed the Wilderness Act in 1964.

"If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them something more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it."

- President Lyndon B. Johnson, on the signing of the Wilderness Act of 1964

LBJ-Wilderness Act signing statement:

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu...  

In a final justice, for many years Aspinall's Palisade home was occupied by the chair of the local Sierra Club and dedicated wilderness activist (who got to testify before a congressional field hearing on wilderness in GJ).  And wasn't Bill Cleary's son Pat a GJ Sentinel reporter?

"There are a lot of reasons not to elect me." Mitt Romney in a moment of clarity

"I'm Mitt Romney and yes, Wolf, that's also my first name," Willard Mitt Romney demonstrating 'policy flexibility.'  

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by: ClubTwitty @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 01:51:41 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Pat did write for the Sentinel

He is in Virginia the last I heard.  Near Fredrick.  I know he still writes (not for newspapers).  We have always hoped he would return to the Sentinel.  But the pay was so bad and they had two small kids.

He wrote a great piece on ranchers moving to the Black Hills during the "Cattle Free in 93 campaign".  I think he coined the phrase "Condo's galore in 94'.  

That's all I know.

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by: johnpauljones @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 15:10:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Cleary also served as Chief to Congressman Hank Brown

Congressman Jim Johnson told the  newly elected Brown, "Bill Cleary goes with the office".  He stayed with Brown until 1982 when Bill retire from his congressional career.  Cleary moved back to GJ to run CLUB 20 during the post oil shale years.    

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by: johnpauljones @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 15:05:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

One quibble johnpaul

Armstrong's newly created 5th District didn't include Lakewood, which was, along with the rest of Jefferson County, in Don Brotzman's 2nd CD.

Redistricting added enough Democratic precincts in West Denver to the 2nd, plus traditionally conservative Boulder (believe it!) was much less so after the advent of the vote for 18 year olds.

This shift opened the way for a Democrat to win in the 2nd, and Watergate and Nxon's resignation sealed it.

Tim Wirth won election in 1974, survived a squeaker with Ed Scott the next cycle, and the 2nd has thereafter been reliably Democratic for nearly four decades.

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by: RedGreen @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 06:09:13 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Perfect

I am not nearly as good with Front Range political history.  I did hear years latter that the redistricting of 1972 was a small regret for Senator Bill Armstrong.  Specifically in the tarnishing of Aspinall's reputation post primary.

 

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by: johnpauljones @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 15:13:47 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

To quibble with your update, Rogers lost in 1970, Aspinall in 1972.

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by: Voyageur @ Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 21:13:37 PM UTC

Appointed Senators nation-wide

I know this thread was about Colorado "incumbents", but here's an interesting synopsis of how appointed Senators have fared over the past half-decade.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/polit...

Micheal Bennett - US Senator: Because Bill Ritter said so!

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by: Dos Equis @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 05:46:48 AM UTC

half-century I mean!

obviously not the past half-decade

Micheal Bennett - US Senator: Because Bill Ritter said so!

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by: Dos Equis @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 05:48:29 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Interesting that so many didn't even run again

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by: Colorado Pols @ Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 23:10:06 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

A lot of them

are place-holders.

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by: RedGreen @ Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 01:11:30 AM UTC

[ Parent ]