(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%
A noteworthy op-ed from Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado on education this week published in the Boston Globe. Excerpt follows (H/T: Scot Kersgaard of the Colorado Independent): When talented women had to choose between becoming teachers or nurses, we could convince them to teach “Julius Caesar” for 30 years with a small salary that built […]
Back in May, we discussed what appeared to be an incipient campaign by partisan Republicans–led by controversial Jefferson County school board member Laura Boggs–to push Republican candidates in the nominally “nonpartisan” school board elections this November. In June, Boggs held a meeting at the Arvada Public Library to discuss JeffCo school board elections in November, […]
Back in May, we discussed what appeared to be an incipient campaign by partisan Republicans–led by controversial Jefferson County school board member Laura Boggs–to push Republican candidates in the nominally “nonpartisan” school board elections this November.
In June, Boggs held a meeting at the Arvada Public Library to discuss JeffCo school board elections in November, with a relatively new “Tea Party”-sounding group, Revive Our American Republic (ROAR), hosting the event. As we noted then, ROAR’s registered agent is ubiquitous GOP attorney John Zakhem–meaning that despite the “Tea Party”-sounding name, in every way an organ of Republican Party usual suspects.
Well, taking a look at the new “2011 election preview” page on the Jefferson County GOP’s website, any pretense of “nonpartisanship” that may have existed has now been dropped.
District 3 – Preston Branaugh (R)
District 4 – Jim Powers (R)
We’re not sure what motivated Republicans to go masks-off in this “nonpartisan” race, but it’s broadly assumed that a conservative majority on the JeffCo school board, which would be the result if both of the above candidates prevail, will result in an attempt to create a religious school voucher program similar to that instituted in Douglas County following an eerily similar coordinated partisan takeover.
The difference, of course, is that Jefferson County is the largest school district in Colorado. So if you’re not yet paying attention to what’s going on here, we expect you will be very soon. It’s likely these GOP “nonpartisan” candidates will see heavy air support from mainline Republican donors, pro-voucher education groups, religious advocacy, and ideological conservatives of all stripes.
Conversely, if you go to the website of the JeffCo Democrats, you’ll see nothing to indicate a school board election is even taking place as of this writing. So, uh, maybe that’s where we’d start…
Most elected officials will tell you that one of the most thankless, unforgiving positions in local politics is a seat on the school board. It’s logical, really, that it’s a hard job; unlike other offices, school board positions deal directly with the issues affecting the children of their constituents. Parents are understandably protective of their kids in the education realm; they’ll as vigorously attack a school board member as a bully on the playground in the defense of their child.
A school board seat isn’t exactly the type of position you can easily use as a stepping stone, either. Sure, you can make incredible connections, but it’s even easier to amass a sizable list of opponents. That’s why it takes a special kind of person to serve on school boards, especially in Denver Public Schools. They have to be the kind of person who’d actually want to serve on a school board; sometimes you get amazing advocates for public schools, and sometimes you get entry-level politicians a little too proud of their title.
Cue Andrea Merida, southwest Denver’s district two director. Merida is a controversial figure in all of Denver politics; she’s picked numerous high-profile fights, including a few with other board members. We’re not here to discuss whether or not Merida has been a positive or negative influence on the direction of Denver’s schools; that’s a debate best left to Denver’s parents and her constituents.
What we will say, however, is that we continue to be shocked by Merida’s lack of political instinct. From her very first second on the board, Merida has been a constant source of controversy due in large part to some incredibly poor political posturing.
Let’s start at the beginning, really. On the day of her swearing in, Merida secured a court order enabling her to take her seat on the board just hours before she would’ve been sworn in as scheduled. She did so to vote against iconic reforms at Lake Middle School, and though we’re sure she had her reasons, the move defined her as a member. In taking her seat early, Merida swiftly and dramatically ended the tenure of her predecessor, Michelle Moss, without giving Moss the opportunity to say farewell or reflect on her past eight years on the board. Alan Gotlieb, the usually mild-mannered editor of the renowned Education News Colorado, compared the move to “a four-year-old ripping open her Christmas presents on December 23.” In this space, we noted that “Andrea Merida couldn’t have been more inappropriate and disrespectful if she had showed up in a ‘Fuck Denver’ t-shirt.” The measure that Merida grabbed the headlines to vote against ended up passing, and thus began Merida’s rather unique habit of posturing for posturing’s sake.
Politicos looking to measure the depth of the Republican bench in Lakewood need look no further than Mark Barrington. We first wrote about Barrington, his bizarre take on the issues, and his even more bizarre fashion sense, in the lead up to last November’s election. Barrington was the bright-eyed and lot-lizard tied Republican candidate taking on Rep. Andy Kerr in HD-26.
Though no Republican would have an easy time running against the popular Representative Kerr, Barrington did an especially bad job. He raised less than $10,000 over the course of the campaign. Sure, the the 13% margin was Kerr’s closest ever, but that was more a function of 2010’s political climate than any inherent political ability on Barrington’s part.
While the young Republican might have been thoroughly trounced in his last bid for public office, it still comes as no surprise that he’s on the ballot again this cycle, this time as a candidate for Lakewood’s open seat in Ward 3. Barrington clearly values himself as some sort of cunning political operator; unfortunately, voters just don’t see him that way. Barrington was unable to sway even the five member committee of activist Republicans during the vacancy appointment to fill Kevin McCasky’s old commission seat. In fact, if Barrington’s an expert on anything, it’s blowing elections: in his first bid for Council in 2005, he came in third, ultimately losing by more than 20% to Ward 3 Councilwoman Sue King.
Why, then, is Barrington making another go for a constituency which has already so soundly refused to elect him? Perhaps he’s using it as the foundation to launch his glamour shot modeling career. Perhaps he really enjoys being “that guy with the faux-hawk,” or “that guy who can never quite seem to be relevant.” Either way, Barrington is back, and we hope his campaign for City Council can be even half as entertaining as the race he ran for the state house.
Of course, other candidates have lost in bids for council before they returned in the next cycle and won a seat; Ward 1 Councilwoman Karen Kellan shines as a bright example of the legislative talent persistence can bring. Mark Barrington is no Karen Kellen, but there does exist the slight possibility that Barrington could actually win this seat. In an election in which voters have little reason to pay attention, Barrington’s name ID from his previous two campaigns may raise his profile above competitors Pedro Roybal and Carolyn Evans, much in the same way even Ramey Johnson has a natural advantage in her race. Barrington may also benefit from the fact that he’s the only Republican running; Roybal and Evans are both Democrats, so even in a non-partisan election, Barrington alone can court Republican donors while Roybal and Evans must themselves compete for Democratic movers and shakers. There’s also a case to be made for “vote-splitting”; that Roybal and Evans will both earn enough share of the “Democratic” vote that their candidacies will cancel each other out and allow Barrington to cruise to victory. While we admit that the dynamics of a three-way race, especially in Lakewood, are radically different than a traditional campaign, we don’t necessarily buy the argument that voters really care about party ID in these local community races. Even if they did, we think it would take someone way craftier than Mark Barrington to take full advantage of having two opponents with similar ideologies.
With Vicki Stack gone, Barrington has a natural place on City Council. Unfortunately, like Stack in her early years, we think that Barrington would all-too-naturally inheirit the role of an inept curmudgeon, more concerned with half-understood Grover Norquist theories of small government than a responsibility to the city or constituents. Indeed, Barrington’s previous electoral personality will likely be his kiss of death; observers know Mark Barrington and they know what he’s about. Unsurprisingly, you get what you see with the guy possessing the doorstep manner of a used car salesman. Bob Murphy and the rest of council won’t want to serve with him, and without Murphy’s support, Barrington is just another one of a handful of perpetual candidates floating around Lakewood. It may be Ramey Johnson’s year, but it shouldn’t be Barrington’s, even in the off-chance he does something about that haircut.
The Durango Herald’s Joe Hanel reports on yesterday’s release of the second part of a study by the University of Denver on the state of Colorado’s long-term fiscal stability. Or lack thereof. Legislators will have to make a nearly permanent 20 percent cut to the public school budget through 2025 and all but eliminate state […]
(Coffman is embracing his inner Tancredo – promoted by Colorado Pols) POLS UPDATE: Mother Jones picks up the story: [I]s there anything to it? Jason Salzman, a Colorado blogger, took Coffman’s suggestion and looked into it. The short answer is no. That’s the longer answer, too. As Salzman notes, undocumented immigrants can’t be moved through […]
That’s the word from Allison Sherry of the Denver paper a few minutes ago–reportedly we’ll be the third stop in a Western states swing including stops in Seattle and southern California. Not much else in the way of details yet, but we have no doubt your email inbox will be overflowing with spam from the […]
In Rep. Cory Gardner’s regular periodic email to constituents last week, we took note of something that might help people understand the enormous divide between the respective “job creation” proposals from President Barack Obama vs. Republicans in Congress. According to a news report in The Washington Post last week, President Obama intends to press Congress […]
Former State Sen. Dave Schultheis was never particularly vague in his beliefs about unwed mothers (famously “wishing that they would get AIDS“) or the evils of gay marriage, which is why were particularly interested to see this recent Facebook page from the great foot-in-mouth Senator. If you follow the link, it takes you to a […]
It’s because Joe Miklosi has made so public his intentions to run against Mike Coffman in CD-6, wherever its lines may fall, that we’re not too surprised we’re already receiving press releases like these.
From Democrat Paul Rosenthal’s campaign:
DENVER, August 30, 2011 – Paul Rosenthal, a teacher and local Democratic activist, has announced his candidacy for Colorado House District 9. The district is held by Rep. Joe Miklosi until January of 2013, but will become open as Miklosi runs for U.S. Congress in District 6.
Rosenthal has earned local endorsements of Rep. Joe Miklosi, Sen. Joyce Foster, Sen. Pat Steadman, Sen. Evie Hudak, Denver City Councilwoman Robin Kniech, and over 100 Democratic Party activists and neighborhood leaders throughout his district.
“Community leaders and neighbors are supporting me because I have a track record of building coalitions and getting results,” Rosenthal said. “I’m running because our state is neglecting our education system. As a teacher, I see it every day. We’re all facing tough times, but education is the key to our future success.”
Rosenthal is a special education and language arts teacher at a youth correctional facility, and has also taught in Denver Public Schools. He continued, “I will hold our government accountable and take on the special interests that let the wealthy oil and gas industries receive over $300 million in Colorado tax breaks each year. It’s not right. Those tax breaks have to go before we even think about cutting our children’s education.”
Rosenthal has the most to gain, really, from Miklosi’s congressional campaign. In fact, Rosenthal has so aggressively been pursuing a place as Miklosi’s successor in 2012 that we had heard rumblings about his candidacy even before Miklosi had begun to make the rounds about his intentions to take on Coffman. It might seem like bad form, but because Rosenthal has rounded up endorsements from all of the southeast Denver district’s leaders early on, he likely won’t have to go through the headache of dealing with a serious primary challenge.
Miklosi handily won election in 2008 and then again in 2010, both times scoring over 60% of the vote. While Miklosi’s Tech Center area seat may have its fair share of Republican donors, the district has consistently expanded its Democratic base over the last ten years: Democrats now outnumber Republicans by more than 15%. That Miklosi was an experienced political operator certainly didn’t hurt either; he knew how to run a campaign, and he faced only nominal Republican opposition.
Unfortunately for Rosenthal, while he may have more or less cornered the Democratic nomination, he’s not even necessarily running for Miklosi’s seat. Though the Colorado Reapportionment Commission‘s maps have yet to be finalized, some observers have hinted that Miklosi might be running for Congress because his house seat could become that much more favorable for Republicans. If so, Rosenthal will have his work cut out for him, and all the Democratic endorsements in the world won’t guarantee him an easy election.
With the incumbent candidate busy running for even higher office, Rosenthal won’t get much help from Miklosi, who’ll be inevitably focusing his time and talents on his own campaign. Maybe he can find time to send Andrew Short, Rosenthal’s campaign manager, a few tips, however. Short previously managed Jennifer Coken‘s third-place campaign for HD-4, ultimately losing to now Rep. Dan Pabon. While we’re sure Short has learned a lot from that campaign, the press release he sent us about Rosenthal’s candidacy linked to Coken’s now defunct campaign website. Of course all candidates and their managers are entitled to a few mistakes, but basing an entire campaign off a losing template, so to speak, is not a great way to launch any race.
These early mistakes aside, we’re left wondering if 2012 is the year Rosenthal may finally be elected to something. Those with sufficiently long memories will recall that Rosenthal ran in 2003 for Denver City Council, losing to Peggy Lehmann. In 2008, he ran an intense primary campaign against Miklosi. Rosenthal lost, obviously, but that makes his once-opponent’s endorsement that much more meaningful. If Rosenthal breaks his losing streak by way of HD-9 this year, we think he’ll owe thanks primarily to Congressman Mike Coffman.
As Politico’s Reid Epstein reports, popular Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado sees his own hurdles to a run for President in 2016–and frankly, we see them too: Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who founded a brewpub and was twice elected Denver’s mayor, cruised to victory in 2010 in a three-way race against a fractured state Republican […]
Tim Hoover of the Denver paper reports that GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, recently challenged for his status as frontrunning Republican presidential candidate in this state by the surging Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, will appear in Denver next week in downtown Denver at a $500-a-plate fundraiser for his campaign. Perry may have shaken Romney’s […]
Los Angeles Times: As FEMA’s budget is under new strain in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, a top House Republican maintained that any new funds allocated for federal disaster relief must be offset by budget cuts elsewhere. Speaking on Fox News Channel, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said a natural disaster like Hurricane Irene is […]
(Photo added–was there no American maker of little foam gas pumps? – promoted by Colorado Pols) By Matt Garrington Last week, Americans for Prosperity (AFP) wrapped up their tour to push Big Oil’s agenda under the guise of more jobs and lower energy prices in an effort to weaken protections for our air, water, public […]
UPDATE: The focus of today’s Statesman story is the money raised by Rick Perry in Aspen last week, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge this fascinating quote from his speech: “When it comes to economic growth, I know this,” Perry added. “The answer is not trickle down stimulus coming from Washington, D.C. but […]
With Proposition 103 headed for November’s ballot, the opposition to Sen. Rollie Heath’s initiative to restore 1999 sales and income tax rates–3% and 5% respectively, up from 2.9% and 4.63%–is heating up. Through most of the spring and summer, opposition to this initiative generally consisted of laughing it off, scoffing at its (formerly) small base […]
As the Colorado Independent’s John Tomasic reports: Editorial boards at the Fort Collins Coloradoan and at the Denver Post have admonished Secretary of State Scott Gessler for setting bad precedent when he decided that the scandal-plagued Larimer County Republican Party was merely negligent and not willful in allowing Chairman Larry Carillo to bilk party funds […]
As The Associated Press reports: Americans are plenty angry at Congress in the aftermath of the debt crisis and Republicans could pay the greatest price, a new Associated Press-GfK poll suggests. The poll finds the tea party has lost support, Republican House Speaker John Boehner is increasingly unpopular and people are warming to the idea […]
9NEWS: 9NEWS Chief Meteorologist Kathy Sabine says temperatures at Denver International Airport reached 98 degrees on Wednesday at 3:17 p.m., breaking the record for Aug. 24 of 97 degrees that was set in 1936. Kathy says the record for Thursday of 96 degrees, was set on Aug. 25, 1913 and she is forecasting Denver to […]
Earlier this week we briefly mentioned the “Running on Empty” tour by conservative group Americans for Prosperity, then making its way through the state of Montana with much anti “Big Oil” counter-protest banging and clanging–not exactly the intended outcome for AFP or its Colorado director, former CD-5 GOP congressional candidate Jeff Crank. Well, as the […]
Fort Worth Star-Telegram, via McClatchy–as of today, it’s Rick Perry’s race to lose. Texas Gov. Rick Perry emerged as the Republican front-runner for president in a major national poll Wednesday as he prepared to embark on a multi-city fundraising tour in his home state next week. Perry was favored by 29 percent of Republicans and […]
UPDATE #2: By request, close-up of Larimer County after the jump below the metro Denver detail. TUESDAY UPDATE: Bigger Democratic maps–click them to see high-resolution versions for statewide (below), and Denver metro-area detail after the jump. —– Click to view higher resolution That’s the word today as Democrats have filed their proposed congressional redistricting map […]
We wanted to be sure this report from Billings NBC affiliate KULR-TV gets a Colorado mention: A group traveling across the country to promote less oil and gas industry regulation brought its tour to Billings Wednesday night, but the reception was probably not as warm as desired. The Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a Conservative advocacy […]
Here’s a fascinating New York Times story for Colorado readers (we’ll explain why in a moment): Two years ago, John McHale, an entrepreneur from Austin, Tex., who has given millions of dollars to Democratic candidates and causes, did something very unusual for him: he wrote a $50,000 check to a Republican candidate, Rick Perry, then […]
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