(R) Greg Lopez
(R) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
(D) Joe Biden*
(R) Donald Trump
80%
20%↓
(D) Diana DeGette*
90%
(D) Joe Neguse*
90%
(D) Adam Frisch
(R) Jeff Hurd
(R) Ron Hanks
40%
30%
20%
(R) Lauren Boebert
(R) Deborah Flora
(R) J. Sonnenberg
30%↑
15%↑
10%↓
(R) Dave Williams
(R) Jeff Crank
50%↓
50%↑
(D) Jason Crow*
90%
(D) Brittany Pettersen
85%↑
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
(R) Janak Joshi
60%↑
35%↓
30%↑
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
We wrote last week about the ridiculous Republican retread ticket in Jefferson County, where proven political losers such as Don Rosier, Libby Szabo, and Vicki Pyne are taking another shot at public office in Jefferson County government. We often say that the Republican bench in Colorado is basically a phone booth, but even so…is this […]
FRIDAY UPDATE: They fixed it. —– Are you a Jefferson County voter planning to cast your ballot before Election Day on November 6, 2018? Then you might want to let Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Faye Griffin in on a little secret: It’s not 2019. Readers of this site and one of our local spinoffs, […]
Faye Griffin will still be serving as an elected official in Jefferson County long after your children’s children have come and gone — even if Jeffco Republicans have to get her cryogenically frozen in order to make it happen. It looks like we need to update a long-running saga involving Griffin’s political history in Jefferson County. Current […]
The Denver Post published a strongly-worded editorial critical of Jefferson County Commissioner (and Clerk & Recorder candidate) Faye Griffin. The editorial board's rebuke of Griffin for what the Post calls "job hopping" contains some stunningly-candid quotes from Griffin herself: We asked Griffin why she would leave the commission two years early, and she was candid […]
Jefferson County voters may be familiar with the name Faye Griffin, in large part because her name has been on a Jeffco ballot since the dawn of time. The 75-year-old Griffin is both allergic to the concept of "term limits" and more than willing to let the rest of the GOP county government trade on […]
This is Faye Griffin, Jefferson County Commissioner and former Jeffco Treasurer and Jeffco Clerk and Recorder. Griffin has been in elected office in Jefferson County government since 1998, a long record of service that might be commendable if she would stop gaming the system and actually finish an elected job once in awhile. As the […]
With State Senator Evie Hudak narrowly clinching victory against Lang Sias in SD-19, there remains but one race left to be decided in Jefferson County, that between Democrat Casey Tighe and incumbent Republican John Odom for county commissioner.
Thursday’s unofficial tally, which includes all regular ballots cast in the county as well as those of overseas and military voters, gives Tighe a 251 vote edge. Although about 7,500 provisional ballots are presently being tabulated, the .08% margin separating the two candidates is over six times smaller than the .5% margin which necessitates an official recount. Neither candidate is expected to pull enough provisional votes to move the needle decisively in their favor.
The official election results will be certified no later than Friday, November 23rd. If the commissioner race remains this tightly contested, a recount of all Jefferson County ballots is statutorily required to be completed by December 6th.
By dint of his current lead, Tighe is the odds-on favorite to ascend to the Board of County Commissioners. As Josh Liss, Jeffco’s deputy of elections, tells the Arvada Press, “[W]hat we’ve seen in recent years is that the provisional ballots seem to reflect what we see on election night.” [Emphasis Added]
Worse still for the incumbent, if Tighe maintains his advantage after provisional ballots are counted and the results are certified, there’s almost no chance that a recount will lead to an outcome in Odom’s favor, as the Arvada Press continues:
The optical vote-counting machines used by Jeffco, which Liss described as “simple and reliable,” would be checked for accuracy.
Then the recount would begin, which in the case of the Odom and Tighe contest would involve recounting every ballot in the county. The process is expected to take three to four days.
Liss said the county’s equipment is rarely wrong the first time around though. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen a recount in Jeffco where the result changes.”
When Tighe is inevitably declared the victor, he’ll become the only elected Democrat anywhere in Jefferson County government. But he probably won’t hold that distinction for long.
That the race is even this close at all, let alone the fact that Tighe will almost certainly win the seat, signals a shifting tide in Jefferson County. Jeffco voters, of course, have long been content to send Republicans to the Taj Mahal by default. Former County Commissioner Kathy Hartman was the first Democrat elected to the Board in 14 years, and even she was ignominiously dispatched by Don Rosier in 2010.
Odom’s failure to truly fight for relection can be attributed to these electoral trends. Why should he have had anything to worry about when few Republicans have ever lost their bids for second terms? Although Tighe’s triumph speaks to his counterpart’s electoral arrogance, it’s also evidence that Republicans can no longer take their cozy perch in county government for granted.
Without any campaign or infrastructure to speak of, Odom garnered just under 50% of the vote. By comparison, Tighe’s ragtag effort earned him a hair over 50%. That means that just being a Republican is no longer enough to win in Jeffco — GOP candidates at the county level will actually have to work keep their hitherto ironclad control of county government.
Tighe, with no built-in name ID, few fundraising connections, and a less-than-professional operation, was a far cry from a perfect candidate. And yet the Democrat is on course to eke out a victory. Just imagine the trouncing Odom would’ve received if he was challenged someone with a better profile.
Odom’s campaign should serve as a warning for Commissioners Don Rosier, Faye Griffin, and other Republicans in county government: You’re now accountable to voters in Jefferson County. Act accordingly.
No surprise here. Jefferson County Commissioner Don Rosier, who’s recently risen to become the face of the Board of Commissioners as a whole, was last week selected as the Jefferson Economic Development Corporation’s “elected official of the year.”
From the JEDC:
Jefferson County Economic Development
Corporation held its sixth Annual Luncheon Thursday at the Sheraton Denver West.Donald Rosier, Jefferson County Commissioner was named the Elected Official of the Year, Mike Partheymuller was named Volunteer of the Year, and the Jefferson County Workforce Center was name Community Partner of the Year. “As we try to encourage job growth and capital investment in Jefferson County, it is important for us to recognize individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to Jefferson County’s economy. We were honored to present these three awards; the recipients have earned this recognition,” said Jeffco EDC’s Board Chair Buddy Douglass.
Commissioner Donald Rosier was this year’s Elected Official of the Year. He has served as Jefferson County Commissioner since 2010. He serves on the Jeffco EDC Executive Committee and is very involved in the economic development of Jefferson County.
Hear that? Jefferson County Commissioner Don Rosier is “very involved in the economic development of Jefferson County.” Apparently, doing your job is all it takes to win an award.
Congratulations are due to Rosier, of course, but this particular accomplishment comes as no surprise. Rosier, as the press release points out, serves on the JEDC board alongside Commissioners Faye Griffin and John Odom. Former Commissioner Kevin McCasky, who served briefly with Odom, controversially resigned from the Board of Commissioners to take a job as the JEDC’s chief executive. That’s four votes right there! Sure, Rosier has worked to advance Jeffco’s economic standing in line with his elected duties, but it’s not like this group would ever call someone like Max Tyler, for example, “elected official of the year.” The JEDC favors municipal leaders over state legislators, after all, and though they’ve celebrated a few Democrats in the past, the group is known to have a subtle conservative bent. Call it a “pro-business” ideology.
As a consolation prize, though, we hear that the American Mustache Institute prefers Tyler’s whiskers to Rosier’s soup strainer. Seriously, though, two politicians with prominent facial hair are two too many for one county.
Adams County voters will decide at the ballot box this fall whether or not to expand their County Commission by two seats, creating a five member board in place of the current, three-commissioner composition. The proposal is a response to recent corruption in Adams County, and championed by current commissioners there as creating greater government accountability and responsiveness.
When a similar suggestion came in front of the Jefferson County Board last month, however, Commissioners John Odom, Don Rosier, and Faye Griffin scrambled to come up with any excuse to shoot the proposal down, according to a report from the Denver newspaper.
Viewed through every lens except that of a current officeholder, augmenting the Commission makes sense. Sure, it’s an “expansion of government” as Commissioner John Odom whines, but it’s not an expansion of bureaucracy. People complain about “big government” when they don’t see or can’t find the personal benefit of government services. In a county of 550,000 residents, however, a five-member commission is simply good government: additional elected officials leads to more opportunities for more constituents to have their voices heard.
Odom also notes that it isn’t practical to allow the county to elect two more commissioners in part because of “additional space requirements.” Is that really enough of a reason? Because there aren’t enough offices? Heaven forbid the commissioners share offices, or, even worse, find space in the expansive Taj Mahal to accommodate everybody. The only reasoning more foolish than the office space canard is grumbling that there aren’t enough chairs in the Commission chambers. “We don’t have enough seats,” Odom could say. “We looked into getting some folding chairs, but those aren’t really comfortable and then we would have to decide who gets the padded seats. I guess we could rotate every few months, but it’s frankly not a conversation we want to have.”
Faye Griffin’s remarks were equally absurd, worrying that overworked support staff would have to put even more hours in at the office. It’s funny how Griffin’s complaints are almost diametrically opposed to Odom’s: in a five-member commission, people would have to work harder? Wait, but don’t we want our elected officials and their staff to work hard to earn and steward our tax dollars? Sounds like Odom’s reviled “expansion of government” may just make everybody a little more industrious, if you take his colleague’s word for it.
Don Rosier grouses that having five, district-elected commissioners would build “fiefdoms,” with each commissioner jockeying to benefit his or her own district. That’s right, Rosier believes that having commissioners catering to the specific needs of different communities across geographically and socio-economically diverse Jefferson County would somehow be a bad thing.
So, to review, Jefferson County absolutely should never, ever have five elected county commissioners because:
1) There aren’t enough offices.
2) People would have to work harder.
3) The commissioners would have to work for and respond to those living in their respective districts.
Great reasons.
These sorry excuses, however, belie the true reason guiding the commissioners’ opposition: expanding the board would dilute their personal political power. In Adams County, proponents of board expansion favor additional members because with three, after all, you only need to convince a friend to support you in order to ram public policy through the works.
Having five members, then, would lead to commissioners having to debate, consider, defend, and win votes for their proposals. Which, of course, would limit the commissioners’ ability to have their way with county government.
And why have “personal fiefdoms” when the entire county can be your domain?
Jefferson County Commissioner Don Rosier was last month selected as president of the Front Range District of Colorado Counties, an advocacy group which advises county governments across the Front Range. It’s a plum appointment for the first-term commissioner, who only took office last year after defeating incumbent Commissioner Kathy Hartman in 2010.
From the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners:
Jefferson County Commissioner Donald Rosier has been elected president of the Front Range District of Colorado Counties, Inc. (CCI), a group that represents boards of county commissioners from more than 60 Colorado counties.
The CCI Front Range District includes Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, and Weld counties and the City & County of Denver and City & County of Broomfield. It brings together commissioners from those counties who face similar challenges such as increasing urbanization, declining revenues and accelerating demands for services for citizens. By joining together, the commissioners share knowledge and experience, have a bigger voice on legislative matters, and work together on issues that cross county lines.
Rosier, who chairs the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners, was sworn in as a Jeffco commissioner in 2011, and was named CCI’s Freshman Commissioner of the Year during his first year in office.
CCI is a non-profit, membership association that provides information and education to county officials, and helps counties work together. Rosier was elected to head the Front Range group because of his work with other counties on critical issues such as transportation and economic development.
Rosier also serves on the National Association of Counties (NACo) Community and Economic Development Committee, which develops NACo policies and represents counties across the U.S. before Congress on matters related to community development and redevelopment, housing programs, building and housing codes, subdivision regulations, public works and economic development. Recently he was chosen as one of only 23 leaders in county government from across the U.S. to participate in a national leadership institute developed by NACo and the Cambridge Leadership Associates.
Locally, Rosier represents Jefferson County on several boards including the Denver Regional Council of Governments, the Jefferson Economic Development Corporation and the Jefferson Parkway Public Highway Authority.
Rosier has quickly become the face of the Board, leading the controversial charge to complete the Denver-metropolitan beltway while still finding time to scare little kids.
He’s risen to the top of county government, however, less because of any inherent ambition or talent and more because of the power vacuum left in the wake of the Kings’ of Corruption abdications. Commissioners Jim Congrove and Kevin McCasky were so masterfully able to define — and desecrate — the Board of Commissioners because, working in tandem, they could ramrod through their policies with no questions asked. You could call it leadership, even if it was unquestionably corrupt — and occasionally bizarre.
Indeed, Rosier’s political profile has stumbled into the spotlight in part because the current Board isn’t really composed of strong personalities. Commissioner Faye Griffin, while popular, lacks the legislative chops to be anything more than a yes-woman. After decades in county government, she’s proven to be a better bureaucrat than policymaker. And while Commissioner John Odom has made some of the same mistakes as his predecessors, he’s too green — commissioner is too big for the guy who’s never successfully been elected to public office before.
And so Rosier, rocking facial hair which would make Colonel Sanders shudder, has alone been able to wield power in Jeffco. The Rosier era is doubtless an improvement over the reign of McCasky, Congrove, & company: there’s been no major corruption scandals, yet.
Still, you’ve got to wonder: is this the best we can do? Should one man really set the direction of the county as a whole? And what has Rosier accomplished, anyway?
The Taj Mahal is no longer a font of shame and outrage for Jefferson County residents. But the county government isn’t really anything to be proud of, either.
Don Rosier, then, is the rebound girlfriend of local politics: necessary to move on from past mistakes, but ultimately forgettable in the long run.
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