November 06, 2008 07:22 PM UTC

Gov. Ritter To Form SoS Applicant Review Panel

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• by: redstateblues

The Post reports:

Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who won election to Congress on Tuesday, said Wednesday that he won’t leave his current post until the day before he is sworn in as a U.S. representative [rsb emphasis].

Meanwhile, Gov. Bill Ritter, who will appoint Coffman’s successor as the state’s chief elections officer, said he planned to announce by the end of the week a commission that will review applications for the job.

Ritter said he intended to follow a similar process to the one former Gov. Roy Romer used in appointing Ritter as Denver district attorney in 1993, after the previous district attorney left to enter private practice. Ritter said the seven-person commission will review and interview applicants.

So “Iron” Mike Coffman will be with us until January, but the day after he leaves we will have a new (presumably) Democratic Sec. of State.

Of the four people mentioned in the article as possible replacements for Coffman, only outgoing State Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon has publicly announced his intention to seek the post. The other names listed as possibilities are: former State Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, outgoing House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, and former Denver City Council President Rosemary Rodriguez.

Fortunately we won’t have to wait until Coffman is crowned sworn in to find out who his replacement will be–Governor Ritter says he’ll have made his decision by the end of December.