(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%
You’ve read by now about the major campaign finance rule changes proposed by Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler earlier this month. The brief summary of what Gessler is attempting here, as we understand it, is a smorgasbord of rewrites to campaign finance rules that would significantly undermine issue committee disclosure, while tightening requirements for […]
UPDATE #4: FOX 31’s Eli Stokols has reaction from Colorado GOP chairman Ryan Call: “I am incredibly disappointed that the Supreme Court has chosen to ignore countless hours of public testimony and rubber-stamp the Democrats’ highly partisan maps,” said Colorado GOP Chairman Ryan Call. “The reapportionment process is clearly broken; it allowed the Democrats to […]
Maureen Keller might just be the luckiest person in Wheat Ridge City politics.
Keller garnered nearly 33% of the vote in her campaign for city clerk last month, ultimately losing the election to former City Councilwoman Janelle Shaver.
Yet because of an archaic provision in the Wheat Ridge City Charter, Keller’s getting a second chance to take on Shaver, head to head, as ballots from the city’s all mail runoff election are tallied tomorrow.
Per Chapter III, Section 3.7 of the Wheat Ridge Code of Ordinances, “The city clerk shall be elected by a majority vote of the electors of the City of Wheat Ridge.” Because no single candidate in the four way race for clerk between Shaver, Keller, Leah Dozeman, and Lenny Ortiz garnered more than 50% of the vote, no city clerk was elected.
Shaver certainly won the most votes, but she didn’t win a majority as defined by the City of Wheat Ridge. And that’s why Maureen Keller might just be the luckiest politico in Wheat Ridge: she gets a do-over in a two way race.
But can Keller win? We think Shaver’s six year term on Council will certainly gives her an edge over Keller. Wheat Ridge is a small town, and Shaver’s been involved with city politics for a while. That matters.
Still, if Keller can successfully make the case to those who previously voted for either Dozeman or Ortiz, each of whom earned about 15% of the vote last November, the race (and clerkship) is hers.
Either way, this runoff election certainly raises some questions about the Wheat Ridge City Charter. Sitting City Clerk Michael Snow told the Wheat Ridge Transcript that tomorrow’s runoff election is “costing the city upward of $35,000.”
That’s over 30 grand of taxpayer money for an election that most voters probably don’t even know is happening. After all, this is the first runoff in Wheat Ridge’s history – nobody is expecting to get a second ballot in the mail over a month after they thought they were done with elections for a while.
Yet because there were four candidates in the running for clerk last November, this runoff election was all but inevitable. Snow said it best himself, “When you have three or more candidates in a single race, it is a challenge for any one candidate to garner more than 50% of the vote.”
If anything, the $35,000 bill footed by taxpayers for an election very few voters even realize is going on is testament to the fact that Wheat Ridge’s charter needs to be re-evaluated. This is the first run-off in the city’s election because normally, not that many people run for city clerk. As the law stands now, however, it’s all but guaranteed that the next time there are more than two people in a campaign, there’s going to be a costly runoff election.
In Wheat Ridge, then, you can have a competitive (and compelling) election for clerk so long as taxpayers fork over $35,000. Or you can have a tedious campaign between two milquetoast candidates. That just doesn’t make sense.
The greatest thing since Democrats for Nixon–the Colorado Independent’s John Tomasic: Freshman Colorado Congressman Scott Tipton received an award recently for his work in support of senior citizens from a group called RetireSafe. Tipton was one of 20 Republicans elected to Congress from swing districts to have received the award, according to RollCall, but the […]
(Quote=”cheap left-wing talking point?” Okay… – promoted by Colorado Pols) Denver Post columnist Vincent Carroll wrote last week that it’s a “cheap left-wing talking” point for Denver Rep. Joe Miklosi to point out that Rep. Mike Coffman called Social Security a “ponzi scheme.” Carroll usually expresses himself as clearly as any columnist out there, but […]
Wow. This is an incredible book. Hard to put down. It goes through the first couple of years of the Obama administration, primarily discussing how he handled the financial meltdown and stabilization. (We can’t say recovery yet because so far there has been no recovery.) A lot of what’s in here is the author’s (and […]
We’ve taken note a couple of times now of faulty reporting and editorializing in the Pueblo Chieftain, regarding the recent controversy over the delivery of mail ballots to so-called “inactive failed to vote” voters. Beginning with a grossly inaccurate report (later made right) from correspondent Peter Roper on the high rate of return for these […]
This morning, I spent a couple minutes on David Sirota’s morning show weighing in on the topic of texting and driving. As many of you know, I was hospitalized by a distracted driver a couple of weeks ago, so I was more than eager to participate in the discussion. Here’s the podcast if you want […]
The Huffington Post reports from Rep. Jared Polis’ first day on the House Judiciary Committee: Polis…asked about the recent federal crackdown on medical marijuana shops in California, where U.S. attorneys have closed hundreds of medical marijuana dispensaries in just two months’ time. She questioned whether Colorado could expect to get different treatment. “It’s my understanding,” […]
FRIDAY UPDATE: Statement from Colorado Democratic Party chair Rick Palacio: “In thirty seconds, Rick Perry’s latest campaign ad highlights what’s wrong in politics today. Instead of offering constructive solutions to the real world problems that our country is facing, he has chosen the well worn path of division and bigotry. “Many things make this country […]
(Good stuff from the memory hole – promoted by Colorado Pols) In late September, on KNUS’ Kelley and Company, Rep. Mike Coffman said Social Security was “obviously” a ponzi scheme. Kelley let it fly by, but I thought this should have been picked up by journalists, since it came from Coffman, especially given that Rick […]
Pols just posted the results of the new CNN/Time/ORC poll that shows Newt Gingrich well ahead of Mitt Romney in Florida, South Carolina and Iowa. Even his numbers in New Hampshire aren’t too shabby, considering Romney was a given to win the state from the very beginning of the race. What is truly interesting is […]
UPDATE: FOX 31’s Eli Stokols Monday evening: [D]espite Miklosi’s best efforts to secure support from would-be challengers, Democratic strategists in Washington, after conducting polls in the district a week ago, believe that former statehouse Speaker Andrew Romanoff would give them a better chance to beat Congressman Mike Coffman next November. FOX31 Denver has learned those […]
( – promoted by Colorado Pols) We all know the process of hammering out new state legislative districts is difficult for everyone involved: the governor, legislators, judges, and regular people, as well as the journalists reporting on it. So even conservative talk-show hosts, like Jason Worley and Ken Clark on KLZ’s Grassroots Radio Colorado, should […]
UPDATE: The Colorado Supreme Court has moved the deadline for filing briefs up to Thursday. —– The Durango Herald’s Joe Hanel updates today: Colorado Republicans are furious at the chairman of a commission that voted Tuesday to draw state legislative districts in a way that greatly benefits Democrats. Mario Carrera, the lone unaffiliated voter on […]
We predicted our final post about Herman Cain would not be long in coming. USA TODAY: Herman Cain says he is suspending his presidential campaign because of the “painful price” stemming from allegations of an extramarital affair. Cain says he hasn’t given up on America. “Life can be a challenge. Life can seem impossible. It’s […]
House District 33 was one of the most heavily-contested seats in Colorado in 2010, with Republican Don Beezley narrowly defeating incumbent Democrat Dianne Primavera. Earlier this month Beezley unexpectedly announced that he would not seek another term. That decision, combined with reapportionment changes that have altered the district lines, helped convince Primavera to make another […]
THURSDAY UPDATE #2: Republicans on the warpath for reapportionment commission chair Mario Carrera’s head are going to probably want to explain why, as Tim Hoover of the Denver paper updates today, none other than Colorado GOP chairman Ryan Call recommended Carrera’s appointment. Hilariously, a reminder of that persuades Call to denounce fellow Republican Mario Nicolais’ […]
( – promoted by Colorado Pols) You wonder how anyone could read former Colorado Senator Hank Brown’s recent comments to Republicans, that a federal candidate’s position on abortion really doesn’t matter, and not think of failed Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck, Rep. Cory Gardner, and others who made similar statements, even though a quick Google search shows just how […]
(Suthers helps Romney thread the needle? – promoted by Colorado Pols) You learn lots of little things when you listen to talk radio, and many of them you could do without knowing, like lawyer Dan Caplis’ assessment of Tim Tebow’s football skills. But other small stuff catches your attention, like the fact that Colorado Attorney […]
UPDATE: Multiple outlets report Herman Cain is “reassessing” his campaign in the wake of these latest allegations, while continuing to deny them. Developing. —– It seems to us the real story of the latest revelations about short-lived GOP presidential frontrunner Herman Cain’s sex life–this latest story about alleged success as opposed to caddish failure–might be […]
We know that our readers here at Colorado Pols are far too astute to make a silly error such as the one that many Twitter users made over the weekend. As you may have heard, Republican Presidential contender Newt Gingrich received the endorsement of the Manchester Union Leader over the holiday weekend, an important endorsement […]
(any frontpaging is greatly appreciated!) I think I’m the only 31-year-old who has ever run for office twice and lost both times. Sometimes, I look in astonishment at people who have actually won, wondering what special wisdom they carried that journeyed them to victory. Governor John Hickenlooper and Mayor Michael Hancock, to my best knowledge, […]
courtesy of tonysrants.com In a letter to the editor of the Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel a resident took to lamenting partisan politics at Thornton City Hall. Considering the source is as partisan as they come, the dispatch is almost comical. Linda Wisniewski rips into freshly seated Thornton Mayor Heidi Williams, apparently concerned about Williams’ party affiliation, campaign […]
J. Daniel Bateman, QC Private Secretary & Legislative Liaison By Appointment to HRH the Duke of Lancaster Royal Crescent Bath BA1 United Kingdom 22nd November 2011 The Timothy R. Tebow Fan Club and Ministry Post Office Box 00666 Denver, Colorado 80204 United States Dear Mouth-breathers, Over the last several weeks I have been greatly entertained […]
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