(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(D) Julie Gonzales
(R) Janak Joshi
80%
40%
20%
(D) Jena Griswold
(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Hetal Doshi
50%
40%↓
30%
(D) Jeff Bridges
(D) Brianna Titone
(R) Kevin Grantham
50%↑
40%↓
30%
(D) Diana DeGette*
(D) Wanda James
(D) Milat Kiros
80%
20%
10%↓
(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(R) Jeff Hurd*
(D) Alex Kelloff
(R) H. Scheppelman
60%↓
40%↓
30%↑
(R) Lauren Boebert*
(D) E. Laubacher
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
30%↑
20%
(R) Jeff Crank*
(D) Jessica Killin
55%↓
45%↑
(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Shannon Bird
(D) Manny Rutinel
45%↓
30%
30%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
(Promoted by Colorado Pols) Conservative talk radio hosts are sure to mock today's rally at Colorado Republican Headquarters, by immigrant rights activists, urging GOP Congressmen like Rep. Mike Coffman to support immigration reform, including–and here's where the hissing from talk-radio land really starts–a path to citizenship. The depressing part about the frowny faces on talk […]
Washington Post political blog The Fix has released a list, generated from nominations through the blog, Twitter, and Facebook, of the best, most-read political reporters in all 50 states. Some of our favorites here made Colorado's list: Congrats to the few, the proud, the over-caffeinated, exhausted, and still enthusiastic, Colorado's best political reporters! Special shout-out to Peter […]
Lots of interesting poll results from Public Policy Polling today, the second half of their recent survey work in Colorado. PPP is generally considered a Democratic-leaning firm, but their performance in recent elections has been quite good. A study by Fordham University rated PPP the most accurate pollster nationally of the 2012 elections. From today's memo […]
The U.S. Senate is discussing potential legislation to expand background checks for guns, and many of the same general arguments are popping up on either side of the discussion. We heard many of the same points here in Colorado when the legislature was debating various gun safety measures last month, but there's one talking point […]
Weld County District Attorney and 2010 U.S. Senate candidate Ken Buck revealed over the weekend that he is being treated for lymphoma. Buck had said publicly that he planned to run for Attorney General in 2014, and he was the likely Republican nominee. Obviously this news may preclude any campaign efforts for 2014, but that […]
Pope Benedict XVI finished his last day of popeness on Thursday. Since it's a Friday and we all could use a minor distraction from the heavy political issues in the news, we thought it would be a nice time for a poll. Newly-elected popes choose a new formal ("regnal") name immediately after selected. Usually the […]
( – promoted by Colorado Pols) Compared to the 2010 election in Colorado, this one has been mostly a snoozer, journalistically. But the 2010 election wasn’t really an election. It was a dramatic comedy show, with so many stories to tell and scandals to uncover that journalists almost couldn’t help but be stars. Still, reporters […]
Reporter Kurtis Lee of the Denver paper solved a few mysteries yesterday related to the absence of embattled incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Coffman from public events over most of the summer and so far this fall–ever since Coffman’s now-infamous remarks asserting that President Barack Obama “is just not an American” were made public. Two significant […]
From The Atlantic online yesterday: But every once in a while, amid the lies and the drama, you come across a political ad that is transcendent; not because it makes some great point, or savages an opponent, or evokes an angry response from the viewer. Sometimes, you see an ad that simply, and eloquently, captures […]
Last week, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock unveiled his proposed budget for 2013, and with it, $94 million of cuts to the police department, libraries, and transportation infrastructure — in addition to five furlough days for city employees. It’s not as if he had any choice but to propose cuts, however: for the fifth year in a row, the city is mired in a steep revenue shortfall that can only be filled by trimming spending.
It’s a smart, balanced budget. Services have been drawn back, of course, but Hancock’s once-nebulous “Peak Performance” initiative is paying off, as strategic cuts have been made throughout the city to eliminate redundant expenditures and to enable current employees to work more broadly.
Beyond the numbers, Hancock smartly used this particular budget to advocate for the de-Brucing measure facing voters this fall, emphasizing that, though the city is capable of doing more with less, Denver would be able to do a lot more if it were’t required to return revenue to the taxpayers.
From Hancock:
While my 2013 budget proposal is balanced, it does not reflect the great city I know Denver can be. These short-term measures are not long-term solutions. For this reason, I am asking voters in November for permission to retain revenue currently being returned to taxpayers because it exceeds TABOR-mandated limits. If approved, this proposal – in conjunction with our efforts to operate the city more cost-effectively – would eliminate Denver’s budget deficit, allow us to recover more quickly from the recession and enable us to catch back up on essential services lost over the past four years.
Specifically, Measure 2A would allow us to catch back up on essential services in the following areas:
Public Safety ($4 million)
• Recruit 100 police officers and firefighters, something the city has not been able to do for four years.
• Replace and service the aging fleet of 1,000 police and fire vehicles, many of which have 175,000
miles or more on them.Streets ($4 million)
• Repave 300 lane miles of city streets that are in the worst shape, many of them neighborhood streets
that have not been resurfaced in 20 years.Libraries ($3 million)
• Restore and increase service at all library branches from an average of 32 hours a week to a minimum average of 48 hours a week.Children ($7 million)
• Provide free access to city swimming pools and recreation centers to all school-aged children living in Denver.
• Restore and preserve child-care for 3,000 low-income children.
• Double the number of children served by afterschool and summer programs from 8,000 to 16,000.Seniors/Disabled ($1 million)
• Increase the city’s property-tax payment credit from $186/year to $372/year for 4,000 low-income seniors and people with disabilities.Economic Development & Job Creation ($500,000 minimum)
• Provide a focused, four-year exemption from the Business Personal Property Tax to companies that expand or add jobs.
• Double the city’s Business Incentive Fund from $500,000 a year to $1 million to bring new companies and new jobs to Denver.Parks ($500,000)
• Begin a six-year effort to restore park maintenance and upkeep that has been cut by 30 percent due to the recession, including mowing, tree trimming, trash pickup and graffiti removal.Other Services ($24 million)
• Eliminate furloughs for city employees.
• Restore city reserves to better protect against another economic downtown and maintain the city’s strong bond rating.
In submitting this budget proposal, Hancock is making the best possible case for voters to approve the 2A measure in November. He’s showing that his administration isn’t opposed to cutting down the size of government while at the same time declaring, poignantly, that Denver needs more money to deliver the level of services its people expect.
Denver needs more money to hire police officers. It needs more money to pave streets, to enable access to libraries, to provide child-care for low-income children, to beautify parks, and to create jobs.
In a political climate where complaints about big government are bandied about as often as accusations of socialism, Hancock’s bringing a powerfully simple message home to voters: the city needs more money to continue providing the services that directly impact lives and have made Denver a great place to live.
It’s the point he’s needed to make since taking office.
Apparently, the folks from Travel + Leisure magazine have compiled a list of the most hipster-friendly cities in America (because why not, right?). Denver, lo and behold, rounds out the top 10.
From the Time Magazine Newsfeed:
With something for everyone, Denver is a paradise for those who prefer to defy categorization. There, hipsters can choose between youth-cool knitting at the popular Wild Yarns, retro cocktails at one of the city’s “speakeasy” bars and a sampling of the city’s famed microbrews, for which it ranked first place.
Denver’s only tenth? Seriously? We understand being outranked by places like Portland, Seattle, and San Francisco – there’s something about port cities which draw in the mustachioed bourgeoisie. But Philadelphia? Philadelphia outranks us?
Denver’s last mayor founded a trendy brewpub before he ascended to office. And then he was elected Governor. That’s got to be worth something, doesn’t it? Colorado voters seem to love craft-beer brewers more than hipsters love craft beer.
Denver Mayor Michael Hancock put his money where his mouth was during his brief, football-fueled rivalry with Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl. In yet another showdown with a Quaker State politico, we fully expect Hancock to challenge Philly Mayor Michael Nutter to a PBR chugging competition. Or perhaps they can compete to see who’s the biggest David Foster Wallace fan.
I don’t give a Gingrich moonbeam about professional sports, but I do like to see what people say about the new commercials afterward. “What does their popularity say about cultural, marketing, or political trends?”, I want to know. As a native Michigander and UAW kid, I couldn’t be more proud of the State of Michigan […]
‘Tis the season! As Tom Lehrer put it: “It’s always seemed to me, after all, that Christmas, with its spirit of giving, offers us all a wonderful opportunity each year to reflect upon what we all most sincerely and deeply believe in. I refer, of course, to money.” So: what’s the most effective fund-raising ask […]
. http://www.washingtonpost.com/… 81 House members, about a fifth of the chamber, are [on a luxury vacation] courtesy of a foundation set up by … a … lobby. . . While stupid Cory Garner goes out on August Recess and faces his constituents and takes questions, and some disrespect, from them, some of his colleagues avoid […]
On August 6th, Paul Berkowitz of the Wall Street Journal penned an editorial that I really believe hit home with me in terms of the hypocrisy that I see from the very far left. For all the vitriol I have seen aimed at the ‘Tea Party Movement’ (whatever that is, exactly), I would like to […]
That was our surprise honor this morning from the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza: Ever wonder who you should follow on Twitter if you care about politics in Indiana? Or Wyoming? Or Maine? Us too! (Nerds unite!) And so, with your help, we have compiled a list of the best political tweeters/tweeps in each state. It’s […]
I’m wondering if anybody has a better response to this guy than “you f***ing whackos”. Please, somebody enlighten me as to why it is ok to use government force to coerce union dues out of workers?
First off – PLEASE DON’T PROMOTE THIS TO THE FRONT PAGE. This is a bit of whimsy that’s unworthy of it. Now, to the main point… Beej, who every reliable poll indicates is soon to be $100 poorer thanks to betting that Tancredo will beat Hickenlooper with Voyageur, has recently demanded an apology from V […]
We discussed the day before yesterday the swift pace at which GOP Senate nominee Ken Buck is running away from various strident positions he took during the primary, as in the “private sector” being much better at running Social Security, and how he was, um, not paying attention or something when he endorsed eliminating direct […]
A new poll released today shows Jane Norton with a comfortable lead over appointed Senator Michael Bennet. Norton leads Bennet 48% to 39%, with a 4% margin of error. Norton also leads Romanoff 44%-40%. Ken Buck also leads either democrat 48%-42% Bennet continues to suffer from extremely high very unfavorable ratings, higher than any other […]
Continuing our series of profiles of some of the more interesting legislative candidates being fielded this year, we turn to Broomfield, and the House District 33 seat presently held by Democratic incumbent Dianne Primavera. HD-33 is another key swing west Denver metro district, like Sara Gagliardi’s HD-27, and Republicans have similar high hopes of unseating […]
(Having grown up in my grandma’s bar and working every job in the B/R business, front and back of the house, I absolutely believe in judging people by their tipping habits. Shout out to my brothers and sisters clocking the sub minimum wage. – promoted by Danny the Red (hair)) One of my adult offspring […]
The 2010 Colorado Legislature’s General Session is wrapping up today. The exciting news is that thanks to our pro-conservation majority in both chambers, we can declare that Colorado is the Best In The West when it comes to forward thinking environmental policy. This historic session saw landmark legislation on clean energy, water efficiency, land use […]
Thank you Mr. Schrager! For getting me to sleep this morning at 2am. I couldn’t put the book down. It was one of those nights were I couldn’t wait to get the kids down, for my wife to retire to the bedroom. As quiet fell upon the house, I opened the book and began […]
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