July 28, 2009 05:26 PM UTC

Penry's First Broken Promise?

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• by: Colorado Pols

WEDNESDAY UPDATE: The Colorado Independent follows up:

Dana Barker was 77 years old and the head of the Garfield County Democratic Party in 2006 when he took on then 30-year-old rising Republican star Josh Penry in the race for State Senate’s District 7 on Colorado’s energy-rich Western Slope.

Barker said he got the former Mesa State College football star from Grand Junction to sign a pledge stating that none of the candidates in that SD-7 race would seek higher office or quit to take another job before fulfilling the full, four-year term at the State Capitol in Denver. [Pols emphasis]

Penry, now 33 and the Senate’s minority leader, earlier this month said he wouldn’t resign his term, which runs through 2010, as he campaigns for the governor’s mansion in Denver.

“The impression I had then [in 2006], and it continues to this day, is that Josh is a very motivated and very ambitious guy and he wants to rise as high as he can, presumably as fast as he can, too,” Barker, now 80, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

A message left for Penry at his campaign headquarters Tuesday was not returned.

We were reminded late yesterday of this 2006 article from the Colorado Independent:

There have been some surprises for the race to win the Senate District 7 in Mesa County between Republican Josh Penry and Democrat Dana Barker. First, it was the age difference between Penry and Barker. The second shocker was when the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel endorsed Barker. Third, was the bombshell that Barker dropped on Penry at the recent Club 20 meeting in Grand Junction-and this was captured on camera.

First photo: Just minutes after this cordial greeting between Penry (left) and Barker (right), Barker makes a statement in front of the large Club 20 audience about the “Candidate’s Plege” he had written. He then hands Penry a copy to sign. The pledge states that the winner of the SD7 race will not seek another office while serving the four-year term… [Pols emphasis]

Photo 3: Apparently caught off guard and contemplating the signifigance of the pledge, Penry’s facial expression signals he’s in deep thought. What should he do?

…Photo 6: “Should I really do this?” Penry’s rubbing his ear as if he’s just not sure he’s making the right move for his political career…

Photo 7: The handoff! Penry gives the signed pledge over to Barker, who also puts his signature on it.

It would appear that sometime between then and now…Josh Penry decided it wasn’t the “right move” after all.

Penry backers will assert that he is ‘keeping the pledge’ by continuing to serve in the Senate next year while he runs for Governor. But that’s not how this pledge plainly reads–committing to not seek higher office while serving in your present one is done to allay concerns that a candidate will be too busy campaigning to represent their constituents effectively.

We read correctly that Penry is moving to Denver, didn’t we?