February 03, 2010 07:39 AM UTC

Senate District 20: Keller Endorses Jahn

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• by: Colorado Pols

Today, former State Representative Cheri Jahn announced that Moe Keller, current Senator for District 20, has endorsed her campaign. Full text of the endorsement follows.

As many of you may be aware, this is my last year as a state senator representing the wonderful citizens of Wheat Ridge, Edgewater, Mountain View, Lakewood, Arvada, Pleasant View and Golden. Two fine candidates are running in the Democratic primary for this Senate District 20 race for the Colorado State legislature: former State Representative Cheri Jahn and former RTD Board member, Dave Ruchman.

I am endorsing Cheri Jahn for this seat.  I have known Cheri for many years. I was her campaign manager in 2000 and we served in the General Assembly together for 6 years. We carried many bill proposals together and share a belief in good, transparent government. I know the quality of her work; her intelligence and professionalism have served us well before and, if elected, will again.

Cheri is a small business owner and mother of three adult children. Her interests include business, child welfare, strong public education, senior protections and higher education affordability.

I am proud to support Cheri Jahn for Colorado State Senate District 20.

Sincerely,

Sen Moe Keller

This doesn’t come as a terrible surprise to anyone following the goings-on of this race. It’s no secret that Cheri and Moe are close, and they were intense geographical allies when both were at the Capitol.

So, what’s the effect on the primary? Well, Senate District 20 is old; it’s got more elderly citizens in it than any other district in the state. Certainly an endorsement from the person holding the seat you want doesn’t hurt, but we’d be surprised if the name Moe Keller means anything huge to anyone in the district.

In short? Cheri Jahn has served as an elected official in this region before, and has garnered endorsements from the likes of  Ed Perlmutter and Andrew Romanoff. She’s liked by some very vocal party activists in the area; the same activists who’ll show up to caucus in a non-presidential year.

Dave Ruchman has been walking the district consistently, and while his loss to Sue Schaffer in 08 proves that his doorstep manner needs a little work, we’ll admit he’s been pounding the pavement since day one. Dave’s got his own fair-share of local government endorsers from his days in RTD, so an endorsement from Senator Keller is by no means a game-changer.

Jahn will definitely get top-line at the caucus, and from there on, it’s up to Ruchman to change his own perception problem and frame Cheri as too conservative for the district.

Kudos to Cheri for her sleek website, though.