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October 13, 2005 08:00 AM UTC

Fitz-Gerald for Governor? Ask Suthers

  • 17 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Will Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald make the leap and run for governor? Fitz-Gerald has said publicly that she is waiting until after the Referenda C&D election to make a decision, but she’s also waiting on something else: Attorney General John Suthers.

Fitz-Gerald has told Democratic supporters that her plans to run for governor are still up in the air depending on whether or not she can still run for state senate in 2006. We first reported back in July that a challenge to her ability to run for one more term in the senate could be successful if Republicans pursue it (Fitz-Gerald has said reading about this on Colorado Pols was the first she had heard of a problem). As we wrote at the time:

According to a Republican attorney, Secretary of State Donetta Davidson just got the dates wrong when she issued an opinion earlier this year saying that Fitz-Gerald could run again for re-election. Democratic lawyers are certain that they will beat any campaign challenge to Fitz-Gerald, but the legal challenge could play out differently. Either way, a challenge would come only after Fitz-Gerald submits nomination papers to the Secretary of State in 2006.

Fitz-Gerald says that she is now waiting for Suthers to issue an opinion on whether or not she can run for one more term in 2006…an odd choice since Suthers is also the legal advisor for the Secretary of State, Gigi Dennis. Fitz-Gerald is worried that Suthers might delay the decision for partisan reasons or Dennis will decide to fight Davidson’s initial decision and prevent Fitz-Gerald from running again. The final decision may come down to the courts, in which case Dennis would have the edge because the courts tend to give the Secretary of State the benefit of the doubt.

What does this all mean for the governor’s race? Fitz-Gerald has indicated that if she cannot run for re-election to the state senate then she is much more likely to run for governor in 2006. It’s no secret that Fitz-Gerald also has her eyes on Mark Udall’s congressional seat in 2008, which he will vacate to run for the U.S. Senate, so it may just be Fitz-Gerald’s preference to stay in the state senate for two more years and then run for congress. But if Suthers and/or Dennis say “no,” the decision may be made for her.

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17 thoughts on “Fitz-Gerald for Governor? Ask Suthers”

  2. I wouldn’t run for anything if C & D fail, personally.  In fact, I know a State Senate candidate who is only running if they pass, because if they don’t, being in the legislature next year will be “a suicide mission.”  Who wants to be the elected official who has to kill in-state tuition, or Medicare supplements?

    I sincerely hope Joan Fitz-Gerald decides to run for Governor.  Primaries are healthy and raise name awareness for the general election.  And I’m never voting for Bill Ritter.

  3. whether c&d passes or not, fitz-gerald is neither a shoe-in for governor nor cd-2.  by no means is she a perfect campaigner and will have hefty primary competition for both seats (in terms of votes and dollars).

    after hearing both her and romanoff campaign for c&d, my money is on andrew as the better choice to run for governor should the referendum pass.  there’s a little thing called charisma that joan (as a candidate) severely lacks. as well, joan has managed to piss off a good majority of the democratic insiders with her behind-the-scenes trash talking and petty politicking.  whether she cares to believe it or not, she’s going to need the inside-game behind her to get either of these campaigns off of the ground and there are a lot of political operatives who can’t stand the sight of her. she can’t rely on labor either, they’ll be backing the winning horse regardless and will leave joan and her cronies in the dust if she can’t get her act together.

    in terms of cd-2, my money is on jared polis.  this guy has bent over backwards time and time again for this district and will be able to out-spend joan right out of the gate.  if anything, he’s effectively neutralized a lot of the joan lovers out there through his continued support of their political efforts.

    there are no future political guarantees for joan fitz-gerald and she could lose all of her colorado political relevance very quickly if unexpected circumstances arise against her.

  4. poli.hack:
    I agree that Romanoff is the more ideal candidate for Gov. but he does not seem inclined to go that way. He remains coy about his prospects after the 05 election, but I will be surprised if he goes for Gov., pleasantly surprised, but surprised nonetheless.

  5. Bottom line is that Bill Ritter is the nominee.
    Forget the pie in the sky names. Romanoff and Fitz-Gerald simply lacked the guts, the organization and the solid advice to jump in. Joan may get knocked off running for reelection. They can look back at 2006, the bloodiest Republican primary anyone could ever remember and they sat it out. But, Colfax and Lincoln is as far as either one is ever going politically, A shame, nah you have to be willing to compete not make excuses.

  6. sorry “RitterItIs,” i didn’t mean to leave old bill outta the mix.  i was merely speculating on which legislators might jump into the race post c&d.  so far, i think ritter has played his cards really well and is doing what he should be doing right now – raising money.  frankly though, he should be out there on the c&d bandwagon with everyone else (regardless of what shelia macdonald has told him to do). how fair is it that all the legislative dems get to use this issue to raise their profiles and ritter does not?

    although, if c&d doesn’t pass, ritter’s the one who has kept his nose clean (for the most part). maybe he’s onto something…

  8. You’re wrong, Poli.hack.  Ritter has beaten the drum long and loudly for C and D.
    That’s why as a pro C&D Republican, I’d currently vote for him in a heartbeat against the self-destructing Holtzman.  Against the far more qualified Beauprez, I’d still be undecided, But Ritter is in the C&D fight up to his eyeballs.

  11. I’m just anxious for some healthy competition, and I hope the field of potentials is widened.  I don’t know if he’s interested, but I would like to see Ken Gordon consider a run.  He’s really put himself out on the line for C&D — not just in the form of speaking engagements and debates, but by actually walking the whole state and talking to voters in person and through local media, plus he seems to have a lot of integrity and a sense of humor (which doesn’t hurt).

  12. Gordon is definitely interested, rado, and has been for some time.  He’s short on charisma and money but long on brains and decency.  We could do a lot worse _ and probably will.

  13. Ken Gordon most nights returned to Denver on his so called walk. He want a warm comfy bed and maybe camped out twice. The walk was done two days or so at a time and that is one reason it generated so little press.
    Just like Ken it was a phony walk across the state. In addition Gordon repeatedly and publicly lost his temper yelling at young staffers with little experience. The staffers were merely doing their best with a lame idea. Th
    Ken can raise money but would be a disaster in every other respect.

  14. Actually, “nonogordo”, the walk would went for at least 6 of 7 days each week, all you have to do is check out the website.  When the team was a reasonable distance away from Denver, everybody would go home to sleep, not just Gordon.  When they were too far north or south, everybody would camp – including Gordon.  I volunteered to walk three times and, when I was there, Gordon walked every step.  There was also a directional mishap on one of the days I walked, and he was pleasant to his staff during that episode and to everybody else the entire time I was out there.  I just did a google news search and it looks like they got plenty of press out of it, not to mention all the direct contact they had with people along the way.

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