(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%
The New York Times’ Caucus blog reports on unlikely leading GOP presidential contender Herman Cain’s fascinating remarks on immigration this weekend: Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain said Saturday that part of his immigration policy would be to build an electrified fence on the country’s border with Mexico that could kill people trying to enter the […]
9NEWS reports the good and the bad from yesterday’s Occupy Denver protest march: Denver Police said they cleared the protestors off Broadway about 6:30 p.m. after the protestors refused to move out of the street. Police say there was at least one instance where pepper spray was used to subdue protestors. Crowds swelled around noon […]
(Keep on keepin’ ’em honest, Jason. – promoted by ProgressiveCowgirl) A Denver Post editorial today made connections between NREL and the Colorado economy that Post reporters and editors should pin up somewhere on the news side of the operation. The editorial commented on General Electric’s announcement this week that it will be building a $300 million solar-panel manufacturing plant in […]
Two statements follow–from Gov. John Hickenlooper, who gave the order yesterday to clear protesters from the Occupy Denver encampment in Lincoln Park this morning, and Sen. Greg Brophy, who emerged as Hickenlooper’s chief critic and led disparagement of the Occupy Denver protesters from the right in the last couple of days. Excerpts, Hickenlooper: In the […]
Worth an atta-boy from progressives and labor supporters–with a H/T to Allison Sherry of the Denver paper, here’s Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Golden’s statement on his vote this week against free trade agreements with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea. U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) voted no on the proposed trade agreements with Colombia, Panama and […]
The Presidential campaign of Republican Rick Perry has fallen apart so fast that the Texas Governor is having a hard time figuring out everyone to blame. But he and his wife, Anita, are doing their best to not leave anyone out. You may remember that Perry faced charges of racism last month when it was […]
You’ve seen the Q3 fundraising numbers from President Obama, with more than $70 million raised in total. Our friends at “The Fix” break down the fundraising numbers in more detail: In his first six months of active fundraising, President Obama has raked in $90 million for his 2012 re-election campaign not to mention an additional […]
That’s the word just in–GOP Sen. Bill Cadman of Colorado Springs will replace Sen. Mike Kopp as Senate Minority Leader after a caucus election this morning. Sen. Kopp is resigning his seat to spend time with his family following the death of his wife earlier this year. Full statement from the Senate Minority Press Office […]
We didn’t want this interview from Monday night’s Rachel Maddow Show (excerpt below) to escape mention. In Colorado, we have a huge number of public servants, both elected and appointed (or simply hired) who work their entire career without ever rising to any kind of prominence–certainly not a moment where something you do becomes a […]
Last weekend I wrote a diary about Latinos for Education Reform’s ties to the pro-voucher community. It sparked no less than four new pols names being created to defend the organization, and as of today has 72 comments. Given the interest, and the many questions that were raised in the discussion, I thought I would […]
A few readers have e-mailed us this image of the yard sign for Jeffco School Board Candidates Preston Branaugh and Jim Powers. 
We’ve been keeping a running catalogue of the best and worst yard signs over at Colorado Pols, but we think the sign for the GOP’s dynamic duo in the school board race warrants special comment.
We wouldn’t say it’s a bad sign. It doesn’t look great, but it tells you who’s running and for what. Jeffco School Board is noted big enough there at the bottom, and there isn’t a ton of wasted space. Both names are on the sign as much as you can fit “Preston Branaugh” anywhere, and while we think they could’ve made this sign look a lot better by not including first names, it kind of works for the whole XY chromosomes thing going on here.
That brings us to the “Vote for the Dads” part of the sign. Those who have e-mailed us have mentioned that they thought it both sexist and a clear indicator that both candidates are backed by the same group of people. We’re not sure if that matters. The GOP has made it no secret that they’re running Branaugh and Powers as a slate of sorts. They have no reason to hide that fact; the whole strategy behind pushing these candidates as Republicans is the hope that Republicans across JeffCo will realize that, even though it’s a “nonpartisan” race, there are still two good ol’ boys you can vote for.
The slogan-of-sorts at the top there actually strikes us as kind of clever. It’s hard to communicate to voters that they can vote for two separate candidates in this race. Sue Windels, in her 2008 run for commissioner, was always fond of saying “you can vote for one boy and one girl” during her campaign against Faye Griffin and Jason Bane’s campaign against Kevin McCasky. Saying “Vote for the Dads” is a quick and easy way to remind people who only glimpse at the sign to vote for both male names on the ballot. If we were Branaugh or Powers, we’d be using that talking point in every speech and in every elevator, so to speak. It’s pithy. It’s memorable.
Still, we think it’s disingenuous for Jim Powers to be calling himself a “dad” in the context of Jefferson County Schools. Sure, he’s a dad by way of his skills as a progenitor, but his kids aren’t even in Jefferson County Public Schools. Powers has “made the personal decision to home school his children,” according to campaign literature, so he’s certainly not a dad in the PTA sense.
Contrary to the image “PTA meeting” conjures, there are quite a few dads who are heavily involved with their schools and the education of their children in Jefferson County. Jim Powers isn’t one of them; he’s running to make education decisions that wouldn’t even affect his own children. We get that being a “dad” may earn Powers some votes, but the only PTA meeting that he’s ever had to attend and the only bake sale he’s had to supervise have been in the comfort of his own home.
We don’t have anything against homeschooling: that’s a personal decision incumbent upon a child’s parents. We do, however, take issue with Powers calling himself a “dad” in the public education sense. That’s a title you can only earn after getting leg cramps from trying to fit in those tiny desks at parent night. He’s a father of children, but he’s not a father of children in Jefferson County Public Schools.
A quick wrap-up as parties in the court case to sort out Colorado’s congressional redistricting begin the two-week process of telling it to the judge–as the Durango Herald’s Joe Hanel reports: In addition to the top Democratic and Republican lawyers in the state, attorneys for two Denver-area governments, Hispanic groups and the Pueblo district attorney […]
UPDATE: Add Conejos, but more importantly Eagle County to the list–just in from sources. —– As the Pueblo Chieftain’s Peter Roper reports: Boulder and Pitkin counties have reversed course and will send election ballots to inactive voters this month, the Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s office confirmed Monday. That turnaround comes only two days […]
Republican Sen. Mike Kopp (SD-22, South Jefferson County), the Senate Minority Leader, announced his resignation this morning in order to spend more time with his family. Kopp’s wife, Kim, died late this summer after a long battle with cancer. From Fox 31/CW2:
“On the eve of an extended period of personal reflection concerning the road that lies ahead of my family and me, it has become apparent that I will be unable to devote the kind of quality attention necessary to serve the remaining three years of my senate term,” Kopp said in a letter to senate Secretary Cindi Markwell Tuesday morning.
Kopp was elected to the State Senate in November 2006. He served as the Senate Republican Caucus Chair from 2007 – 2010. He was elected Minority Leader at the end of the 2010 session after Josh Penry stepped aside.
In his letter, Kopp said he resigns with “a heavy heart.”
“The last five years have been among the most fulfilling for me,” Kopp said. ” I have truly enjoyed serving the people of Senate District 22 and all of Colorado. However, I must now dedicate my service to my four beautiful children.
Kopp was easily re-elected to a second term in 2010 in a heavily-Republican district. A Republican Party vacancy committee will determine his replacement.
Republican Sen. Mike Kopp, the Senate Minority Leader, announced his resignation this morning in order to spend more time with his family. Kopp’s wife, Kim, died late this summer after a long battle with cancer. From Fox 31/CW2: “On the eve of an extended period of personal reflection concerning the road that lies ahead of […]
We’ve talked a few times now about a study performed by an out-of-state economist named Eric Fruits, an adjunct professor of economics at Portland State University in Oregon. Fruits’ study predicts that if passed, Colorado’s Proposition 103 could result in some 30,000 in “reduced employment” during the five years it would be in effect. As […]
That’s the word from John Fryar of the Longmont Times-Call: The Boulder County Clerk and Recorder’s Office on Tuesday will mail ballots to more than 145,800 active voters. Then, either later this week or early next week, Boulder County may send ballots to about 24,600 other registered voters in the “inactive/failed-to-vote” category because they failed […]
It doesn’t directly pertain to Colorado politics, but this story at the Washington Post has to be one of the most appalling incidents by a young conservative “activist” we’ve ever read. And with the Occupy (Your Town Here) protests ramping up around the country, people should be paying very close attention to this kind of […]
Last week, it was reported that the legislative oversight committee of the state’s new Health Exchange Board, created by this year’s health care exchange legislation Senate Bill 200 to implement a key state component of federal health care reform passed in 2010, missed an important deadline to apply for $22 million in federal startup grant […]
It’s a sign we saw by the side of the road near Colorado Springs yesterday. The caption reads, “This El Paso County project made possible with your tax dollars.” We didn’t actually see any construction going on around this sign yesterday when we took the photo, so we assume it was placed there to let […]
Monday morning update: A friend who read my diary told me this morning that my link regarding Mr. Mendoza’s voucher celebrating house party no longer works. Apparently Mr. Mendoza or someone else spent some time this weekend literally scrubbing his tracks from the internet (comments below also indicate that he’s removed his postings on facebook […]
I was going to post this as a comment to the Gessler v. Denver: Today’s The Day post, but it seemed tool long for a comment. Should “Shall” be interpreted as “…shall only…” or “Shall, at a minimum,…”? This is the basis for the argument behind Gessler’s complaint against Denver. Using Gessler’s own example, he […]
(As we discussed in February, once he gets through Doug Lamborn it’s a laudable proposal – promoted by Colorado Pols) I may disagree with Rep. Mike Coffman about some things, but he has a lot of guts to call for Pentagon cuts, like he’s been doing, especially since he represents a district near Colorado Springs. […]
Excerpt from a press release from VoteVets.org a short while ago, opening a new front in the battle over mailing ballots to registered voters in Colorado marked “inactive” due to failure to vote in 2010–against a county clerk not involved in litigation, for withholding ballots from “inactive” military voters. As you know, that’s the status […]
SATURDAY UPDATE: Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s statement on yesterday’s court action and denial of his requested injunction, via the Colorado Independent: “The judge today did not decide on the merits of the case as this was a preliminary decision. The judge said we have a reasonable probability of success on the merits but also […]
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!