Author Archives: nancycronk

My campaign for HD37 is going extremely well!. While we may not be in the Colorado Pols Top Ten Races, we are not far behind (possibly 12th?), and have a serious chance at pulling out a surprise win in the southern suburbs. Here’s why:

1. It’s an open seat with a history of close races. In 2006, Angela Engel (D) received 49% of the vote. Other races since have remained in the high 40s, even with several non-aggressive D candidates.

2. I was drafted to run by a vacancy committee when Marlo Alston dropped out of the race in April. At the time, I was also running for re-election to the local Fire Board.

3. I won re-election to the Cunningham Fire Protection District on May 6th, netting the top vote count out of seven candidates. I did it by talking to R’s, D’s, U’s and I’s alike. My philosophy of respecting our workers while safeguarding our citizen’s tax money is appreciated (shout-out to CPFF Local 3027!). We started campaigning for HD37 the very next day.

4. In six weeks, from May 7th, until the June 25th filing, I raised $9000. We’re still rockin’ it.

5. My opponent — and I have nothing bad to say about him (we are running a clean, positive campaign) — lost a Centennial City Council race to Democrat CJ Whelan, another member of the CFPD Fire Board.

6. I’ve lived in the S.E.Aurora/ E. Centennial area for 24 years and have raised a family there. I have good name recognition in my district from years of volunteering for non-profits and in the public schools.

7. My full-time campaign manager and I talk to everyone we can — and we listen. You don’t get more grassroots than that.

8. Representative John Buckner, a friend to unions, to teachers and to working families (as am I), won his election two years ago in the formerly GOP district just north of mine, and won it by a 13 point spread! We only need 5 points. He did it doing the same thing we are doing.

9. The Centennial area is changing demographically. While knocking on doors, I’m seeing many people who are fed up with the extreme partisanship, obstructionist politics, and radical agendas of the far right. Door after door, people are telling us they want common sense, compassion, and community. They want grown-up politics, positive messaging, and good ideas. They point to negative fliers cluttering their porches (Gardner v. Udall, mostly), then hold up our positive literature and tell me it is “refreshing”.

In the last two days, I’ve had three registered Republicans tell me they were going to vote for at least one Democrat this time around. One said, “I don’t hate my gay neighbors, and I am tired of people telling me I should.” Another one said, “The gun debate has gotten out of control. I have guns but I think background checks are fine.” The third told me, “The Affordable Care Act was good for my business.”

10. We’re getting great press.
Elect Nancy Cronk for State Representative
District 37 Democrat Makes Late Entry
Cronk Seeks To Turn HD37 Blue

Come walk with us and see for yourself! It just might make you believe in community-based representation again! If you can’t walk, or you don’t have time to join us, please contribute here: http://www.NancyCronk.com.

Every year, a coalition of non-profits in CO that work for the rights of women and children under the umbrella of the “Colorado Women’s Lobby”, rank our CO State legislators on their votes. Not surprisingly, many of the 17 Senators and 36 Representatives who received a 100% rating have the same letter after their name.

Congratulations to the 2014 legislators who scored 100 percent on the Women’s Lobby scorecard for their work to help women and children: Senators Irene Aguilar, Morgan Carroll, Lucia Guzman, Rollie Heath, Mary Hodge, Cheri Jahn, Mike Johnston, Matt Jones, John Kefalas, Andy Kerr, Linda Newell, Jeanne Nicholson, Gail Schwartz, Lois Tochtrop, Nancy Todd, Jessie Ulibarri, and Rachel Zenzinger (Pat Steadman came in close at 91).

On the House side, superstars for women and children are: Representatives Kc Becker, John Buckner, Lois Court, Crisanta Duran, Tony Exum Sr., Mark Ferrandino, Rhonda Fields, Mike Foote, Leroy M. Garcia, Joann Ginal, Millie Hamner, Dickie Lee Hullinghorst, Daniel Kagan, Tracy Kraft-Tharp, Jeanne Nicholson, Steve Lebsock, S. Lee, Jenise May, Beth McCann, M McLachlan, Jovan Melton, D. Mitsch Bush, Dominick Moreno, Dan Pabon, Cherylin Peniston, Brittany Pettersen, Diana Primavera, Paul Rosenthal, Su Ryden, Joseph Salazar, Sue Schafer, Jonathan Singer, Max Tyler, Edward Vigil, Angela Williams, and Dave Young.

My state Representative, Spencer Swalm, scored a whopping 18, tying with Senator Vicki Marble and Rep. Steve Humphrey for the lowest score this year. Term limited Swalm’s District 37 was redrawn in 2012, merging half of districts 37 and 39. It now includes most of the City of Centennial, with some portions of unincorporated Arapahoe County with Aurora mailing addresses (where I live). In 2006, Democratic candidate Angel Engel nearly beat Swalm with 49% of the vote, and subsequent candidates with very low name ID and little time to campaign, brought the DPI down to its current 46%. The two candidates running to fill Swalm’s open seat on the Republican side are Michael Fields, a very young man who identifies on the extreme far right and is not afraid to say so, and Jack Tate, a businessman from Centennial who lost to Democrat CJ Whelan for City Council last year.

On the Democratic side (and yes, Republicans, I do say “Democratic” not “Democrat”) there is a brand new candidate who was chosen by a vacancy committee after caucus (the only Dem running until that point dropped out at caucus due to personal reasons), and who started campaigning for the State House only after winning re-election to the local Fire Dept. Board on May 6th. I’m hoping CO Pols’ readers might recognize the name and invest in a promising new candidate. Here’s to adding another “100% Winner” on the Colorado Women’s Lobby’s roster in 2015 — this time from District 37!
Nancy Cronk for Colorado

(Warning: long)

Many of the most densely populated portions of Congressional District 6 lie within the city of Aurora. My family and I moved near Mike Coffman's neighborhood in Aurora, CO 23 years ago from the midwestern college town where my husband received his PhD. When we moved into our first home, a rental, I was stunned by the six foot wooden fences, the prevailing libertarian attitudes of the high planes, and the lack of support for worker's rights. It was a foreign landscape for a young wife from a working class neighborhood just outside of Detroit. We had moved from an international student community (similar to DU in some respects), where I organized weekly family shared meals with my neighbors from Japan, Israel, Korea, Russia, Jordan, Mexico, Thailand, Finland and many other places, as well as a babysitting co-op for new moms. My toddler son had already been exposed to hundreds of different languages in that college (bubble) community, and though we could not afford to travel (we could barely afford to eat), every conversation was a lesson in geography and culture.

When we arrived in southeast Aurora, the first neighbor I saw simply said, "Keep your kid away from the fence. My dog hates kids and will eat him."

I called my mother sobbing. "Mom, have you seen the movie 'Dances With Wolves?", I asked.

To which she replied, "Yes. Why?"

"That's where I moohoohooved!", I wailed into the phone.

In the months to come, I was greeted with political notes on my doorstep inviting me to protest the local high school health care clinic (they gave students resource information for contraception), and I was told by a neighbor that Democrats insert tiny computer chips into infant babies' scalps at the hospital to control their every move. I was asked over and over, "Are you coastal?", which to the non-Republican translated means, "You're not liberal, are you?" 

Even the synagogue we attended in Denver had some right-wing members living in the 'burbs who tried to persuade us to join their ranks — a very unusual experience considering it was as true then, as it is now, that more than 2 out of 3 Jews nationwide are Democrats. I felt like I landed on Mars. Many of the hard-working, politically-moderate neighbors we came to know were simply not interested in politics, and truth be told, as a young mother, I had no time for it either. Over the years, our Congressman Dan Schaefer handed the baton to nationally-known immigrant-hater, Congressman Tom Tancredo, who loved his job so much he wouldn't leave it for five terms!

Fast forward 23 years, two more children, and two house moves later, and we live about three miles south of that first rental home. We grew to understand the ways of the west — from planning one's weekly calendar around Broncos games, to taking time off work to see the National Western Stock Show Parade. We came to love the SE Aurora/ E. Centennial area so much, we have made it our forever home. The six foot high wooden fences took some getting used to, but I found people are really very similar all over the world.. Our first neighborhood was receptive to my babysitting co-op idea, as well as organized play dates, and shared meals for new moms. The Cherry Creek schools our sons grew up in and where I volunteered often were, and are, outstanding. The Parks and Recreation programs in Aurora are among the best in the country. More than that, my family and I ventured out to the rest of Aurora, where we found the diversity we loved — and so dearly missed. 

Aurora is now Colorado's most richly diverse city, with more than 80 ethnic restaurants and markets, and more than 90 languages spoken in its public schools (much to Tom Tancredo's frustration, I'm sure). In a single afternoon at the Central library, one can hear dozens of languages spoken, from Russian, to Ethiopian, Chinese, Korean, African, Somalian, Nigerian, Spanish, French, etc. In the summer months, the Aurora Arts Festival and Cultural Events make it one of the most exciting places to be in metro Denver. If you listen to the stories of Aurorans, you will learn they came to America for good schools, for an opportunity to make life better for one's family, and to become an American citizen in order to pursue the American Dream. They want what Coloradans have wanted for hundreds of years — a peaceful place to raise their children, a chance to work hard and make a fair wage, and a sense of community alongside other Coloradans from all over the nation, and all over the globe.

The dreams of the newly-arrived immigrants in Aurora are identical to the dreams of my ancestors who arrived to this country in previous centuries. The only difference is, many of the newer immigrants dress in orange and blue jerseys, wear cowboy hats, and love to watch American Idol-type programs on television. The old Aurora, Mike Coffman's Aurora, contributes its western charm and historic cowboy heritage with the New Aurora, to create a uniquely Colorado experience. 

In 2008, as Colorado's Secretary of State, Mike Coffman attempted to shut-down the dreams of immigrant families and people of color in Aurora when he purged countless new voter registrations, most of which were collected by liberal out-of-state groups assisting in the Obama campaign effort. Coffman knew the groups like Mi Familia Vota, Common Cause, SEIU, MoveOn.org, etc., were targeting people of color and new citizens in Aurora to register them to vote, and he wanted their voices stopped so badly, his office gave inconsistent instructions on how to fill out the forms (I know this because I led a team of voter registrars in Aurora that summer, and they personally gave me incorrect information a number of times). Coffman had the audacity to continue to purge those registrations even after he was ordered not to do so by a federal judge.

Andrew Romanoff understands the New Aurora. Andrew's grandparents were Russian-Jewish immigrants who worked hard to make sure their children and grandchildren could go to college. Andrew seldom boasts about his most-inspiring qualifications for the United States Congress — working with communities the world over to accomplish truly impressive goals through democratic means. Andrew Romanoff has shown visionary leadership not just influence (as Coffman had done) — he brought together Democrats and Republicans to repair Colorado's schools, wrote laws to protect women from domestic violence, focused on services for mental health care, and expanded affordable housing. Andrew fought to protect children and the elderly from neglect and abuse, and taught high school students in rural Central America. He worked with the Southern Poverty Law Center for civil rights, and fought for low-income women's equal pay and education. At IDE (International Development Enterprises), Andrew led efforts to teach people to start businesses and become successful farmers — giving people a hand-up rather than a hand-out. Andrew's efforts have been recognized all over the world as ideas that will work anywhere, including in Aurora, CO.

All Aurorans share another, sadder common experience. Aurorans came together from every neighborhood of its 143 square miles to comfort each other after the Century Theater Shooting. Many volunteers spent last summer visiting the make-shift Aurora memorial site comforting strangers, cleaning up broken glass, providing water bottles, and pruning flowers left in memory of the victims — myself included. We made thousands of tiny black and blue memorial ribbons and passed them out to the grieving and the curious. Among the leaders who became most involved in the healing was Representative Rhonda Fields, who became the voice for many survivors wishing to make all of Colorado's City streets safer. Rhonda faced obscene name-calling, death threats, personal attacks and political savagery for insisting on common-sense gun restrictions. Who stood with Aurora's beloved Representative Rhonda Fields and the majority of Aurorans? It wasn't Congressman Mike Coffman. He was nowhere to be found in protecting Colorado's cities and towns from overly-lax weapon regulations. The person who stood up for Rhonda and all of Aurora was Andrew Romanoff.

There is only one candidate in the race for Congressional District 6 understands the blending of New Aurora with Old Aurora to become Strong Aurora. There is only one person who understand the modern challenges Aurorans face as their city increasingly becomes one of the New West's most interesting destinations. That person is Andrew Romanoff.

Please help us this summer in registering new voters in diverse North Aurora. Aurorans of every color, of every language, of every nation of origin, deserve to have their voices restored — voices stolen from them at one time by former Secretary of State Mike Coffman. When Aurorans vote, they will remember what happened in 2008 and they will vote for Andrew Romanoff.

Legislators and state officials kept piling into Denver’s largest synagogue – Governor John Hickenlooper, Congresswoman Diana DeGette, former CO Senator John Morse, Senator Irene Aguilar, and many more.  Before long, the enormous sanctuary which seats more than one thousand guests was full, with some well-wishers standing in the back. Two weeks after his death, and the day before the CO State legislature reconvened for the 2014 regular session, Colorado politics stood still to honor one of its’ heroes, former state representative and senator, attorney, college professor, campaign expert and ideological giant, Ken Gordon.

Speakers included Rabbi Emeritus Dr. Steven Foster, a 35 year friend of Gordon’s and spouse of Senator Joyce Foster, Senior Rabbi Joseph Black, Cantor Regina Heit, CO Governor John Hickenlooper, Speaker of the House and Candidate for Congress Andrew Romanoff, Campaign Manager Ken Smith, and University of Michigan college buddies Marc Van Der Hout and Joe Goldenson.  Governor Hickenlooper spoke about Gordon’s reputation as a campaign advisor whom he called many times while he ran for Mayor of Denver, as well as for Governor.  Governor Hickenlooper stated what many others felt, “Even when we disagreed, Ken could disagree elegantly.”

Speaker after speaker extolled Ken’s virtues as being intelligent, well-read, humble, stubborn, humorous and loyal. They told of his work to pass constitutional changes to fund higher education, health care and transportation, and a publicity stunt involving walking 300 miles across the state to get it done. Ken was passionate about the environment and frequently spent time outdoors in CO – a hobby that resulted in funny stories about how he and his friends were half-frozen and unprepared in the CO wilderness.

A particularly humorous moment was when, after a number of long speeches and an hour into the memorial service, Governor Hickenlooper attempted to sneak out of the service without drawing attention to himself. Rabbi Foster pointed out the hunched over, exiting Governor, and with a “shooing” motion told him, “Go, go, go. You have a state to run.” (Only the 40-year Rabbi of Denver’s largest synagogue could say that with such humor and affection and get away with it!)

Longtime close friend Andrew Romanoff told a number of funny stories about Ken – including one from the early days of their friendship when a rumpled Gordon arrived to a Jewish holiday celebration in Romanoff’s home and started rummaging through the refrigerator. “Don’t worry, Mom, that's just our State Representative”, he remembered telling her.

Ken Smith, Gordon’s campaign manager, was often referred to by Gordon as his “best student” – the one who wrote a paper about campaign finance reform which would ignite a passion in Ken that would define the rest of his years in public service.  Upon reading a paper written by Smith, Ken researched publically financed campaigns and was inspired to found the organization, CleanSlateNow.org. Clean Slate Now works with a number of candidates all over the country to strategize successful elections based on representing individual constituents, rather than corporate interests.

I couldn’t help but wonder in amazement how far Ken’s passion for populist, democratic politics had reached, and how many people it had touched, as scores of Colorado politicos wiped their eyes, nodded their heads, and laughed at loving jabs about Ken’s love for books, impatience with social graces, and stubborn attachment to his ideals. Why was Ken Gordon so important to all of these people?

I did not know Ken as well, or as long as many of the other attendees, but I knew him. He and I argued a number of times during the Senate Primary race of 2010, where Ken made it very clear to me I was helping the wrong side (Senator Bennet). Despite his frustration, Ken remained polite, friendly, and kind to me, hoping someday I would see the “Anti-PAC light”. Like many other Democrats, my disagreement with Ken was over the role of unions in the political process. As a UAW brat, I saw them as an integral part of campaign finance, and Anti-PAC legislation could interfere with their influence in Democratic campaigns. Since then, Ken became a supporter of my organization, Progressive Women of Colorado, and I looked to him as a leader on the “Romanoff for Congress” campaign.

Ken was our conscience. He never gave up on those he mentored, advised or kindly scolded. Ken’s was the little voice in all of our heads that said to Democrats, “Don’t be seduced by corporate influence and big money in politics. Don’t allow fancy parties, impressive titles and large donors to undermine your values. Don’t get sucked in to cynicism, to apathy and to corruption. Trust your gut, work for the people you do not know, and remember most the people too weak to help you, rather than those who can.” I’m glad I started listening to Ken Gordon and started to believe what he had been telling me – and so many others – for years. It is possible to fund a successful national campaign through individual contributions. Andrew Romanoff is doing just that right now. 

As a progressive who considered Ken Gordon both the thorn in my side at times, and one of my most respected heroes, I am deeply saddened by his death – not only the devastating loss to his entire family, but also to the state of Colorado, to the United States, and to the world.  His leadership had become increasingly more important, rather than less so, and his death came at one of the most inopportune times, politically speaking. The race for Congress in Colorado’s CD-6 between Andrew Romanoff and career corporatist Mike Coffman has much more riding on it than one man’s legacy – proving that individual contributions can fund a winning political campaign has enormous potential repercussions for the future of this country, and for the world. Ken’s inspiration in this race literally impacts the very future of our democracy.

What remains of Ken’s dream to secure democracy is up to us. In recent conversations with Ken, all he spoke of was winning the Romanoff v. Coffman race, as the ultimate testing ground for his life’s work. I ask those who are reading this – no, I implore you — please make winning the race in CD6 for the people your highest election priority, in Ken’s memory. Allow Ken to earn that legacy as the genius political scientist he so richly deserved. Allow Ken’s inspiration to live on, by securing the future of democracy for the United States, and around the world.

Ken's family has asked that contributions be made in Ken's memory to www.CleanSlateNow.org. 

Popular Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson announced his retirement today, giving six weeks notice, and naming his successor, UnderSheriff David Walcher. The County Board of Commissioner's will replace the Sheriff, but if the vote goes the way most of them do, it will be a rubber-stamp. Robinson's timing and text raise many questions. The letter did not say, "I'm going to Florida to play shuffleboard" or "looking forward to spending more time with my grandchildren". Instead, it read, "Leaving office prior to the end of my third term has always been an important element of my very deliberate and well-considered succession plan". 
http://www.arapahoegov.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/1126

Robinson is hugely popular in Arapahoe County among community leaders in both parties. Readers may recall he arrested his predecessor, fellow Republican and former Sheriff Patrick Sullivan on drug charges, beefing up his image as a "non-partisan law-and-order swashbuckler". http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/11/29/former-arapahoe-county-sheriff-arrested-on-drug-charge/

Robinson's been positioning himself as a moderate and getting media attention as an "independent thinker" for some time. Case in point: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_22427943  And here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/16/sheriff-bills-romney-campaign_n_1283242.html​  Clearly, he is getting good campaign advice if he is running for something.

To those who know him, Robinson appears apolitical. He is very professional and serious as he carries out his duties as the highest ranking Official in Arapahoe County. His work with FEMA and Homeland Security, his height, and his serious demeanor can make him very intimidating, but he has a sense of humor, too (I once joked with him that firefighters exist so police officers have someone to look up to. He teased right back).

Will Sheriff Grayson Robinson cash in his substantial political capital and run for higher office? Only time will tell, but he's one to watch.