With the 2006 election now one week behind us (unless you’re the Denver Election Commission, that is), it’s time to take a look back at the Winners and Losers of the political season.
Some people, such as Marilyn Musgrave and Doug Lamborn, fell into both categories (winners and losers).
With that in mind, click below the fold to see the 2006 Election Winners…
Local Democratic Strategists
From Mary Alice Mandarich and Joan Fitz-Gerald on the Senate side, to Alice Madden and Andrew Romanoff in the House, Democrats recruited strong challengers, kept incumbents organized and well-funded, and executed their campaign plans to near perfection. The Democrats didn’t lose a single incumbent in either the House or Senate and managed to pick up a handful of seats as well, despite a Republican effort that spent millions upon millions of dollars. Unless Democrats really screw up in the next two years, the Republicans will have virtually no chance of taking back control of even one chamber of the legislature in 2008.
Alan Salazar
Rep. Mark Udall’s chief of staff took a leave of absence to guide the campaign of Ed Perlmutter in what turned out to be probably the smoothest, most well-run campaign of the year. The race in CD-7 was considered for most of the last two years to be the number one congressional race in the country, and Republican Rick O’Donnell had a huge money advantage over Perlmutter while watching the Democrats duke it out in a tough primary. Will Salazar take the reins of a statewide campaign for Udall in 2008? He certainly proved his worth.
Ed Perlmutter
The CD-7 seat was created with Perlmutter in mind, and four years later he proved why. Perlmutter ran a solid campaign, thanks in part to O’Donnell’s bumblings, and ended up with a surprisingly strong 13-point victory. Perlmutter’s victory was so impressive, in fact, that Republicans are going to have a hard time finding a strong candidate willing to take him on in 2008.
Tom Tancredo
In what turned out to be a banner year for Democrats nationwide, Tancredo barely had to lift his head off the pillow to win re-election once again in CD-6. He probably would have beaten Democrat Bill Winter anyway, but Winter’s weak campaign meant that Tancredo (and National Republicans) didn’t have to exert resources to stave off defeat. Democrat Angie Paccione may have lost to Republican Marilyn Musgrave in CD-4, for example, but Musgrave (and national Republicans) had to spend millions of dollars to keep her seat.
Bernie Buescher
Republicans spent an unheard-of amount of money in their effort to unseat Buescher in HD-55, but Buescher still won by nearly 10 points. His victory in 2004 was considered somewhat of an anomaly in heavily-Republican Grand Juncion. Now he’s just considered a proven winner.
Mike Coffman
Coffman really, really wanted to run for governor this year, but he balked in early 2005 when Bob Beauprez kicked his ball over the fence and told him to go home. With John Suthers uninspiring performance as a candidate for attorney general and Sen. Wayne Allard’s potted-plant personality, Coffman may be the best thing the GOP has going in Colorado after all.
Marc Holtzman/ Bob Schaffer
Schaffer supported Beauprez from day one, and Holtzman never even made it to a primary, but the political careers of both men were nevertheless given a boost by what happened on Election Day. The destruction of Bob Beauprez’s campaign made Holtzman look like a better option in retrospect, and Schaffer sailed to an easy victory for state school board while putting himself in position to be a Republican Party leader. Now that the traditional Republican powerbrokers have lost badly in two straight elections, elephants will be looking for new leaders. Both Holtzman and Schaffer – who lost the 2004 U.S. Senate primary to Pete Coors – may find themselves back in the game as the true voices of conservatism.
Jay Fawcett
Fawcett didn’t win his race for congress in CD-5, but he did prove himself to be a rising star in the Democratic Party. Fawcett worked hard, didn’t complain when he was not given much attention early, and put himself in a position to perhaps pull an upset. The overwhelming voter registration disadvantage proved too much to overcome, but Democrats should find a place for Fawcett somewhere else.
Doug Lamborn and Marilyn Musgrave
Both Republicans faced more trouble than expected in their respective races for congress, and both managed to come out on top (albeit with several nasty scars). Despite all of their troubles, at the end of the day they did enough to win – and that’s what matters.
John Salazar
Salazar pulled off a big upset in 2004 by winning a traditionally-Republican congressional seat in CD-3. Critics said he rode the coattails of his more well-known brother, then-Attorney General Ken Salazar, and would have a much tougher time in 2006 because the first re-election bid is always the toughest for an incumbent.
Salazar proved his critics wrong by hammering Republican Scott Tipton in a 24-point victory that will probably put to rest any serious Republican thoughts of challenging him for awhile.
Greg Kolomitz, Evan Dreyer
Dreyer signed up early with Democrat Bill Ritter as campaign coordinator and spokesperson, and Kolomitz came on board as the campaign manager when there was still a chance that other, seemingly stronger Democrats would still force a primary. Kolomitz and Dreyer helped direct a solid race for governor by keeping Ritter out of the fire when Republican Bob Beauprez’s campaign imploded and by keeping their foot on Beauprez’s neck when he was down.
Norma Anderson
The former Republican senator saw her hand-picked successor, Kiki Traylor, lose in a bitter primary in August. But after Election Day, Ritter named Anderson to be a part of his transition team because of her bipartisan appeal, and Norma’s niece, Pamela Anderson, was elected Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder.
Eric Eidsness
As the Reform Party’s choice for congress in CD-4, Eidsness ran perhaps the best race of a third-party candidate that we’ve seen in decades. Eidsness pulled a solid 11 percent of the vote, and in a debate with Republican Marilyn Musgrave and Democrat Angie Paccione, he often looked like the best candidate in the room. We’re still a long way from seeing a third-party candidate win a major election in Colorado, but when it happens, we’ll look back at Eidsness as having set the table.
Diana DeGette
The congresswoman from Denver didn’t have an election to worry about, but she is now poised to make a run at Majority Whip when the new congress reconvenes under Democratic control. Her pet issue of stem cell research also gained increased national attention during the election.
Josh Penry
Penry easily won his senate race in SD-7 and now moves to the front of the Republican bench with massive losses elsewhere. Other rising stars in the GOP, such as Rep. Matt Knoedler of Lakewood, lost their elections and are now on the outside looking in. On the downside, Penry probably doesn’t want to take a shot at John Salazar anytime soon, but he could certainly be an option for something bigger in 2010.
John Hickenlooper, Mitch Morrissey
The old logic that a Denver politician can’t win statewide was proved wrong after Ritter’s decisive win. If the Denver Mayor and the Denver DA decide to make a run at higher office, they won’t have to deal with that old wive’s tale first.
Lower-Tier Democrats
Backed by groups like Progressive Majority, Democrats made a concerted effort to start building up a farm team by winning lower-profile local races that Republicans have traditionally dominated. None of those wins were more impressive than that of Kathy Hartman, who became the first Democrat to win a Jefferson County Commissioner seat in nearly 15 years.
Television Stations
The big money winners in 2006 were the television stations, who sat back and raked in the dough from the longest Colorado ballot in decades. By the end of the election season, you couldn’t turn to a network TV channel that wasn’t running a political ad.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: Duke Cox
IN: Weekend Open Thread
BY: harrydoby
IN: Friday Open Thread
BY: Gilpin Guy
IN: Surely THIS Will Lower the Cost of Eggs
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Closing Federal Center in Lakewood Would be Economic Disaster
BY: Genghis
IN: Surely THIS Will Lower the Cost of Eggs
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Surely THIS Will Lower the Cost of Eggs
BY: Ben Folds5
IN: Surely THIS Will Lower the Cost of Eggs
BY: A Person
IN: Closing Federal Center in Lakewood Would be Economic Disaster
BY: 2Jung2Die
IN: Friday Open Thread
BY: Colorado Pols
IN: A Few Words On The “Big Lie’s” Last Prisoner
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
Well, she actually lost 51-49, but this bright, hardworking teacher was recruited almost as an afterthought to run as a Democrat in the solidly-Republican 37th House District. She came within a hair’s breadth of defeating extreme-right (“I don’t believe in the separation of church and state”) Republican Spencer Swalm despite Swalm’s inexplicable endorsement by both of the major dailies (and despite Swalm supporters tearing down dozens of Engel’s yard signs and replacing them with their own – definitely not cricket). She did it the good old-fashioned way, pounding the pavement.
a good job – recruiting the right guy to take on Jones and getting at least credible candidates in most of the El Paso races. More important for the win, it appears he managed to get the El Paso Dems to start building a ground level operation. This could mean that EL Paso County will stay competitve but probably red for a while. That will, however, mean that the money that used to leave El Paso County to the state level will have to stay home and more resources will be needed from the state level. I mean, look, the El Paso races used to cost about $12-15K for a Republican to win. This year the numbers ran closer to $25-30 – that’s an additional $90-100K. With a two term minority status, it will be interesting if the business donor money starts to cross the aisle – making this change even more significant.
Salazar’s trouncing of Tipton and prior win against Walcher seems almost certain to cement his position as CO-03 Representative for as long as he remains responsive and wants the position. I can’t see anyone taking him on at this point, nor do I see the Republicans targeting the seat unless the tide changes early.
Clearly top honors must go to Ritter and his campaign staff. It’s been 12 years since a Democrat ran and won so impressively (Romer in ’94). However, while I understand that the Dead Govs have a natural bias toward their journalistic breathern, how can you single out Evan Dreyer for mention. He is the mouthpiece for the campaign, but his message is crafted by others. Kolomitz did an amazing job, but let’s not forget Sheila MacDonald. Thetwo of them are a great team and as evidenced by the spur-of-the-moment strategies when Denver’s polls went belly up, the Ritter field operation was flawless.
Great job to Greg, Sheila and Ruben!!
Evan was more than a mouthpiece for the campaign. I would give him more credit than the other three you mentioned. By the way, when you say “others crafted the message” are you saying that Greg crafted the message??? Maybe later we can have a discussion about the difference between a dairy farmer and a cattle man… or lack of difference.
I see that this is your first post here.
Let’s be honest. Everyone from the Ritter campaign deserves praise. They ran almost a flawless campaign and Evan Dreyer, Sheila MacDonald, Greg Kolomitz, and everyone else deserves praise. And that praise should come regardless if it is someone’s first post or not.
Maybe you didn’t read the post before that one. I’m not going to argue with your post saying that Evan, Sheila, Greg, and everyone else deserves praise. I will argue with someone who says that Evan was just a mouthpiece for the campaign when he was a central part of why they won.
To be accurate, this is my first post under this name. Sorry Winston, over the last few months since they moved to a log on procedure here I have been working on campaigns.
Unlike too many on here (not naming names Winston – hint hint) I actually work the political process and have been working it here in Colorado for 28 years. It’s usually not till after the election cycle that I have the time and energy to fool around on the internet.
Don’t mistake the freshness of this screen name for being a rube about politics. I agree that everyone at Ritter’s did a great job and Evan was a first class press secretary…but I’ve never been on a campaign – nationally, state-wide or locally – where the press secretary was “a central part of why they won”. A great press secretary will help keep the candidate from going off the reservation, which Evan mostly did. And a great press secretary will help manage the press cycles to move message forward, which Evan absolutely did. But putting the press guy in the same league as the campaign manager, or the field director, or even the fundraising apparatus, well that’s just ridiculous.
I humbly bow to your veteran status as a blogger. I scoff at your self-percieved status as a pol.
A pol huh? Thank god I have no perception of myself as anything of the sort. You, on the other hand, are one of two people. Either you had nothing to do with the campaign, in which case your opinion is worth very little and I would scoff at your status as someone who would know what went on. OR, you are one of the people that you bolstered up as being the important people on the campaign (who I don’t argue for a minute were not important, just not leaps and bounds above Evan). If the latter is the case, I also would scoff at your ability to correctly identify your own self-importance. By the way, who posts on a message board about how great they are? That would make me assume you are not one of the people you listed above as I doubt anyone on the campaign would slam another to bolster themselves.
I suppose there is one more possibility, which is that you are someone that was on the campaign that wasn’t one of the four top people. If so, you are entitled to your opinion, but it is my view that your opinion is wrong and that Evan was clearly just as important as any of the other senior staffers.
As I have previously noted, I think Evan did a great job. However, in an earlier post you noted that in your opinion Evan was more important than the campaign manager, the deputy campaign manager and the coordinator of the most Democratic county in the state. And that makes no sense.
My putting the others ahead of Evan doesn’t diminish the job he did, it just pays homage to the inherent truth that: ID’ing your supporters; persuading the undecideds; and making sure your support translates into actual votes at the polls is the most important part of a campaign. It is ALWAYS all about the field.
And NO, I am not any of the people mentioned. I’m just someone who too often sees the real workhorses passed over when credit is dished out and thought he would take the opportunity to spread a little more of it around.
So Winston (and no, I neither know nor care who you are), kudos to ALL the Ritter campaign.
If your “hint hint” implies that you know who I am then so be it. While I would prefer to stay anonymous, I don’t think I have said anything on this message board that I wouldn’t have said if my name was attached to it.
Hello Joe Sixpack, Goodbye top 1%. Hold onto your coupon clipping scissors.
OK, I exaggerate, but expect change.
yeah, I’m biased. Jay was a great canadidate, but they can’t do it all.
Wanda gave heart and soul, cussed us out when needed, and did many things we’ll never know about that really did make this a “race” – albeit one that was never run before.
It wasn’t reflected as much in the numbers, but the Dems made another push toward respectability and competitiveness in what *was* a pure red district.
Doug better be on his best behavior.
I did hear great things about Ms. James. Never got to meet her, but I hear she ran a tight ship down there and in that Dobsonville gave them a run they’d never seen before. For a long-shot with not much money, she seemed to do great getting Fawcett in the press. Too bad they’ve got as bad of ration of Ds to Rs as in 4 & 6. Maybe CD5 & 6 should be redrawn to make one sane district where a Dem could win and one for the Haggard “God made me do it” flock and Tancredo brown-skin haters..
We here in CD-5 are used to *being* the insane nutcase district. If someone is proposing splitting us up into reasonable versus nutcase, I call that progress.
Before you go complaining too much about CD 5 & 6, just remember these were the districts drawn to corral all those nasty Republican votes so you wouldn’t need to worry about them in the 2nd, 3rd and 7th.
Dems drew a balanced map that they thought reasonable people would accept. Unreasonable people showed up at the negotiating table, and a judge wound up picking the most reasonable map he was presented with. That happened to look a lot like the Dem-drawn map, but not because it was partisan to Dems – rather, it reflected the state most accurately.
The lines right now are pretty well balanced for the situation as it was in 2001: 5&6 are solid Republican, 4 leans pretty well to the GOP as well. 3 is a marginally GOP district that has flip-flopped over the years; 7 was an even split (see Beauprez’s 210 vote victory in ’02). 2 leans towards the Dems like 4 leans GOP, and 1 is solid Dem.
For that balance, Dems are now representing 4 of 7 districts. They hold half of the Senate seats (going up to both of the Senate seats in ’08 unless the GOP pulls itself together), hold increasing majorities in both branches of the Legislature, and now hold the Governor’s mansion and Treasurer’s office (if you include Lt. Gov, that’s a majority of the executive – otherwise, it’s half).
My guess is, that change in leadership will be followed in time by a change in registrations. Fewer R’s, more U’s and D’s. Redistricting 4, 5 and 6 in 2011 could prove interesting even without a gerrymander. I guess we’ll see based on election results in 2008 and 2010. If Dems continue their forward march, it might be politically balanced to change the district lines to reflect greater Dem majorities. And if demographics permit it, maybe giving a lot of people down in 5 some hope is a possibility…
Yeah, it was drawn as a republican district.
But I will never accept incompetent and anti-democratic leadership driven by hypocritical church elders.
I respect Thomas Jefferson’s creation – and Creator – far more than James Dobson’s Gospel of Greed and Fear.
Musgrave and Tancredo are next, then we’re taking the fifth.
She now has two candidates that she handpicked to represent Arvada (Sara Gagliardi and Debbie Benefield)in the State House. Either one of them will make worthy successors to her when she is term limited.
“Both Holtzman and Schaffer… may find themselves back in the game as the true voices of conservatism.”
No Doubt.
They’re just the kind of conservative loonies that caused me to leave the Republican party in the first place.
Having done a simply spectacular job at losing two straight elections, the Owens/Benson/Martinez crowd has now got to be in the gunsights of every “true” conservative and otherwise disappointed Republican activist in the state.
No matter that in ’04 it was the Andrews’s, Caldera’s, Shultheis’s and other loonies that set the stage for the Republican defeat, and the shine on the apple that kept the Democrats rolling in ’06 – Schaffer and Holtzman have to look good as the “I told you so” candidates who – in an alternate univers – “would have” gotten the job done.
Schaefer may have a future in the party, most likely as a senatorial candidate in 2008, but Holtzman’s toast. He was a horrible campaigner and was exposed as a minor fraud, imho.
Unless they are born again, they’ll drive thinking people out of the GOP.
they’ll drive thinking people out of the GOP.
The state GOP can go one of two ways. It seems like despite the ample evidence that it’s against their best interests, it’s the Holtzmans, the Schaffers, and the Schultheises of the world who a lot of party faithful are looking to.
A friend of mine is a DU Prof who he has told me how Holtzman was brought in to raise $$ for the university. He was total bust, and they ran him out of there.
Your friend must have lost his tenure, then, when Holtzman and Ritchie re-vamped the entitlement programs at DU. That would explain the animosity.
Remember two years ago when she won the HD 36 seat and the knives came out? She didn’t pull her lobbyist punches, lucked out with a joke of an opponent and sailed to re-election. Along with all the Jeffco Dems, part of the new face of inner-suburban progressive politicians. She’s got a future.
As I’ve mentioned several times, I worked as a volunteer for her in the last session. Every night one of my chores was to put the folder for every single bill coming up in the next day’s hearings and on the floor into a big folder. She would read them at night at home. How many leg’s can say that they do that?
Like her or hate her, she knows every bill when she votes or attends hearings. Remember Conyers in Fahrenheit 911 admitting he didn’t read the Patriot Act? Won’t happen with Morgan.
The campaign strategy of the entire Ritter team deserves congratulations. They were on top of everything! Without question, the young people and their energy coupled with the experience of the team of Kolomitz, MacDonald, Dreyer and Ruben Valdez led Bill Ritter to victory, and let’s not forget the candidate himself. Bill’s passion and caring nature for ALL people will prove to be invaluable to the state of Colorado.
It’s a great time to be a Democrat in the state of Colorado!!
both Merrifield and Morse campaigns. Is that a win? Is winning those races worth anything?
He went only lightly negative, got to accentuate the positive frequently, and will get elected to eight unless he heads off to the big house. None the less, in the end I think circumstances will dictate his accomplishments more than program. Owens, Romer, et.al. all came in hoping for something different, Ritter will be no exception.
He may be a rising star in Grand Junction but he’s not going to leave the western slope and for once, he’ll have to wait his turn. Josh won’t beat John Salazar and he’ll have to wait for John to make a decision not to run again.
Couldn’t agree more about Alan being a clear winner. Great job he did with Perlmutter’s campaign and with laying groundwork for Udall to carry CD-7 in the Senate race. This guy is a rising star as a democratic strategist and at a pretty young age, should be bigger things in the national arena in the future for him.