Rep. Dan Thurlow (R).
As the Grand Junction Sentinel’s Charles Ashby reports today, freshman GOP Rep. Dan Thurlow is emerging as something of a wild card within the Colorado GOP House minority. We took note of a vote by Thurlow earlier this session against a Rocky Mountain Gun Owners bill to ease the acquisition of machine guns, rockets, and other military-grade weapons. But that’s not the only issue on which Thurlow is throwing off his fellow Republicans:
Rep. Dan Thurlow earned a lot of respect from Democrats on Tuesday when he was the only Republican in the Colorado House to vote for a bill to ban conversion therapy for gays and lesbians…
“To me, the conservative position is to stay out of other people’s lives, and everybody should have the ability to live the life they want,” Thurlow said after casting his vote. “I’m not trying to change anybody.”
Immediately after the vote, the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Paul Rosenthal, D-Denver and one of seven openly gay lawmakers in the Legislature, shook Thurlow’s hand and thanked him for his vote.
The bill passed the House 35-29, but faces an uncertain future in the GOP-controlled Senate, where it now heads.
As Ashby reports, Thurlow also voted against two so-called “religious freedom” bills this week, joining majority House Democrats to kill what opponents called legislation granting a “right to discriminate.” Thurlow also helped vote down an attempt by Republicans to roll back vehicle registration late fees passed in 2009 that have funded dozens of bridge replacement projects around the state.
House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso, for his part, is paying lip service to the idea that all of his caucus members are independent actors representing their constituents:
“I’m the minority leader that allows my members to vote how they feel like they need to best represent their district,” DelGrosso said. “I’ve never instructed any of those folks that they need to bear the Republican torch on every issue. I’ve said from day one, we’re going to have caucus issues, but the reality is, if you feel like you need to vote a different way for your district, that’s why you were sent here.”
This is, of course, exactly what you’d expect DelGrosso to say in public. Behind the scenes, however, we’ve heard that Thurlow’s votes are greatly irritating many other House Republicans, and stirring up opposition in Thurlow’s safely Republican Mesa County district. Thurlow is no Jared Wright, whose personal financial indiscretions before taking office and embarrassing mistakes as a freshman legislator made him a one-term wonder–but if Thurlow keeps voting his conscience instead of the GOP party line, it’s not unreasonable to speculate that he might share Wright’s fate.
And that would be a real shame. Colorado Republicans need more Dan Thurlows.
Thurlow ran on a slogan of “Let’s Try Something Different.” I teased him about that everytime I saw him. Today I thanked him for walking the walk.
Don’t think of him as an endangered legislator. Think of him as a prospective airport board member and proud pickup driver. (RIP, Ralphie)
Nah, he’s more than smart enough to stay off the airport board. He may already have a truck.
I have heard Rep. Thurlow expound on the subject of oil and gas regulations. He lives in a bubble occupied by many Mesa County residents. The one in which natural gas is a “clean fuel” and that regulations “chase industry out of the state”, among a slew of misinformed opinions on the subject. That has been the Republican party (Chamber of Commerce, Club 20, city gov., county gov., etc.) tune for so long that almost all the locals here actually believe it. They learn all the words in grade school and learn to do the dance before they graduate from high school and attend CMU (Colorado Methane University) and go to work for Halliburton.
I am anxiously awaiting his votes on whatever upcoming O&G bills we see in the next few of weeks.
He will never get onto the Mesa State payroll with this voting record.
That’s more good news – Danny doesn’t need to be on anyone’s payroll. He’s quite wealthy all on his own!
….if he’s wealthy on his own, why didn’t he BUY the condo he is renting from the owner I work with in Downtown Denver?
I supply Rep. Thurlow’s with his Internet feed in his condo, so I do have a lateral connection with him.
You’ll have to ask him. Over the years most of the Reps from out of area (Denver metro) have rented or at least since term limits passed.
He kind of looks like a nice looking James Carville. If one can imagine such a thing.
I was just thinking that, BC. Although the “nice-looking” is kinda mean. Meow.
No I mean it. He’s much better looking than Carville. Of course, so is practically everybody.
I guess if you’re into that Hunter S. Thompson sans the cigarette holder kind of thing . . .
Hmmm. Having met and spoken with newly appointed Rep. Lang Sias, I would have expected him to fill this role. Guess that just isn’t to be….