As the Boulder Daily Camera reports:
Former state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald said Thursday she would like the governor to consider her as a potential replacement for U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, who is vacating his seat to head the U.S. Department of the Interior.
She said she called Gov. Bill Ritter’s office Thursday to inquire about the appointment process and whether she should send in a resume.
Fitz-Gerald, who hails from Coal Creek Canyon and ran unsuccessfully for the 2nd Congressional District seat during August’s Democratic primary, said the U.S. Senate is in need of more women. She served as Colorado’s first female senate president.
“Being president of the (state) senate gave me a statewide perspective on a lot of things,” she said.
Fitz-Gerald, 60, said the decision to contact the governor’s office came after supporters urged her to put her name into the mix.
Support for a possible Fitz-Gerald senatorial appointment was revealed in an online poll conducted by liberal advocacy group ProgressNow, which solicited votes on possible successors to Salazar.
Preliminary results of the poll, released Thursday, showed Fitz-Gerald as the ninth most popular choice, beating out current state Senate President Peter Groff, state Treasurer Cary Kennedy and the governor himself.
She wasn’t even presented as one of the choices for appointment, instead making it into the tally as a write-in candidate. Fitz-Gerald said Thursday she hadn’t yet looked at the poll.
A poll follows.
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ouch, that sounds kinda pathetic. If they need your resume in order to know you, you ain’t a serious candidate.
Maybe she wanted to give the Governor updated contact information. No one has seen JFG since August.
…that you and I are going to be great friends someday. Hehehe.
What a leap frog….. A wonderful way to lose the House seat.
that the person jumping up and down and yelling “PICK ME!” doesn’t/is the last to get picked?
after all, even while in the Senate minority, she outfoxed the Repubican leadership (John Andrews in particular) several times. She also was instrumental in the revival of the Senate democrats from a spent and demoralized state to a real factor in state politics for the first time in many years. [I mean, the pitiful picture of a train of democrats schlepping down to the Capitol basement to graze at the food machines while the republicans were upstairs running the state is one forever burned in memory.)
Fitz-Gerald is smart and progressive. Her first elective office was an county clerk if I’m not mistaken. She was a superb Senate President and it’s a damned shame that she’s not headed for the 2nd CD seat. She’d know how to help build the Colorado party, too. This woman has a future in COlorado politics, only question is ‘where.’
Who knows how she plays on the West Slope, though. I think she’s played it right. Other ‘candidates’ have been out there and opinions have been formed about their suitability. I think RItter will make THIS choice relatively quickly, unlike the odd patty-cake that he’s orchestrated over the SoS appointment.
Polis would have to get used to it. He ran for office because he wanted to and he could. Was he ever truely anti-Fitz-Gerald? [I’m asking…]
In fact, more qualified than some of the other names being mentioned.
Could she win in 2010, statewide? That’s the biggest criteria I have for this seat right now, quite honestly. Yes, I’d like to see someone fairly progressive replace Salazar but my main concern is plugging someone in that can run a solid campaign in 2010 and retain this seat.
During her CD 2 Campaign, Joan Fitz-Gerald articulated clear progressive position on three of the issues I consider among the most important facing the United States Senate; Universal Health Care, Ending our military involvement in Iraq and restoring the rule of law and constitutional civil liberties.
She is an experienced legislator and knows how to get things done, but is also a principled leader who will fight for progressive solutions rather then seek the middle ground to accomodate the Republicans.
She is a great campaigner (not withstanding her inability to overcome Polis’ money in the 2CD primary) and has a history of winning independent voters in Republican Districts.
I was thrilled to read that Joan had made clear her willingness to seek the appointment and hope that Governor Ritter has the good sense to appoint her.
Anyone who has to go to the papers to proclaim her interest has as much chance of getting the appointment as I do.
Jambalaya is right. This is about as pathetic a pitch as we’ve seen, and we’ve seen a lot. Naked ambition doesn’t play well.
Others have expressed interest, and in more subtle ways. Andrew Romanoff has been pretty silent on the issue, as have most of the others who have expressed interest.
I wonder if going so public would help or hinder her chances at the appointment. It doesn’t seem to be helping Caroline Kennedy.
Unions are pushing her big time. I got an email from Ed Knox saying call the gov to support her. The fact the unions want her is more reason of the Gov not to choose her.
John Hickenlooper is a better choice than her.
Joan is Barbara Mikulski without the charm and brains. Hang it up Joan.
in other words, you’re comparing her to Wayne Allard…or a lump of dirt…
First off, I think this was a good way to make her a serious contender. She had to make it clear after her previous statement that she is very interested.
Second, yes she would be bad for the unions in that she would give them what they want which lets them put off a bit longer learning how to operate in today’s economy. But no candidate is perfect.
Third, she is very effective at getting things done is a legislature which is pretty evenly balanced. And in passing progressive legislation in that environment. In the Senate where you need 60 votes, this would be very valuable.
I think she deserves consideration as one of the top possibilities.
…really, you think that? A private chat with governor wouldn’t have been better? Sending a resume in through the newspaper was the best way?
Lord help us.
Because even God couldn’t have created someone as cynical as Jambalaya.
That would have been a more opportune time to deliver it to his office.
qualified, absolutely
any chance she’d win statewide re-election in 2 years?
no chance whatsoever
and I doubt highly Hickenlooper wants the job…(I could be wrong though)
I bet Romanoff is selected and accepts expecially now that Buescher was appointed SOS