October 17, 2017 03:15 PM UTC

Cary Kennedy's Got Lots of Friends, Too

• 2 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

We took note in early September of the healthy list of endorsements for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jared Polis, reflecting his many years of supporting fellow Democrats and helping build the progressive infrastructure that gets a lot of the credit for turning Colorado from red to blue in the past decade.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t take similar note of the very long list of updated endorsements another contending Democratic candidate in the gubernatorial race, Cary Kennedy, is circulating along with her latest fundraising numbers–an adequate if not exactly stunning total of about $233,000 for Q3, which is enough to keep her viable. Kennedy’s support from current and former state lawmakers is particularly strong from this list, as well as luminaries in local Democratic politics like former Lt. Gov. Gail Schoettler.

Kennedy’s endorsements follow after the jump. With everything weighed in the balance today, we would argue that most likely scenario in the Democratic gubernatorial primary by next spring is a Kennedy vs. Polis horse race with the other candidates acting as spoilers. That’s not the only way the race could play out, but that would accurately reflect the state of the race as of now. Between Polis’ name ID and wealth and Kennedy’s hard work cultivating support, there may just not be a lot of oxygen left for other candidates with little to differentiate themselves.

• Allison Aichele, La Plata County Treasurer

• Wil Alston, Communications Strategist, Former Executive Director of Five Points Business District

• Dulce Anayasaenz, former Colorado State Director for Bernie Sanders for President

• Veronica Barela, President & CEO of Newsed

• Patricia Barela Rivera, Former Colorado District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration

• Chauncey Billups, Former NBA All-Star Player

• Jennifer Bock, Steamboat Springs (as an individual)

• Bennett Boeschenstein, Grand Junction Mayor Pro Tem and City Council Member

• Betty Boyd, Former State Senator

• Michael Brewer, Philanthropic Consultant

• Mary Beth Buescher, Commissioner, Colorado Commission on Higher Education

• Bernie Buescher, Former Secretary of State, Former State Representative

• Mike Callahan, Former Lieutenant Governor

• Cathy Carlson, Community Leader

• Diane Carman, Communications Consultant

• Jim “Carpy” Carpenter, Former Chief of Staff, Governor Bill Ritter

• Tyler Chafee, Senior Vice President, Strategies 360

• Dede de Percin, Health Care Advocate

• John DeStefano, Platte Canyon School Board Member, Former President of the Jefferson County School Board, Former President of the Colorado Association of School Boards

• Evan Dreyer, Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor Hancock

• Mark Eddy, Founder and Principal of Mark Eddy Communications

• Taryn Finnessey, Senior Climate Change Specialist at State of Colorado Department of Natural Resources

• Joan Fitz-Gerald, Former Senate President, First female Senate President of Colorado

• Darrell Hanavan, Former Executive Director of the Colorado Wheat Administrative Committee, Colorado Association of Wheat Growers and Colorado Wheat Research Foundation

• Anna Jo Haynes, President Emeritus of Mile High Early Learning Centers, Co-Chair of the Early Childhood Leadership Commission

• Happy Haynes, City of Denver Deputy Mayor; Executive Director of Denver Parks & Recreation; Denver Board of Education, Denver Public Schools

• Carol Hedges, Community Leader

• Melanie Herrera Bortz, Latina community leader, Health advocate

• Evie Hudak, Former State Senator

• Marcia Johnson, Former Denver City Council Member

• Dan Kagan, State Senator

• Chris Kennedy, State Representative

• Peter Kirsch, Partner, Kaplan, Kirsch, Rockwell

• Gwen Lachelt, County Commissioner, La Plata County

• Carol Lease, Executive Director of the Empowerment Program

• Pete Lee, State Representative

• Doug Linkhart, Former State Senator and Denver City Councilman

• Susan Lontine, State Representative

• Alice Madden, Former House Majority Leader and State Representative

• Sweetie Marbury, Durango (as an individual)

• Don Mares, Former Deputy Mayor of Denver and Executive Director of Denver Human Services

• Rosemary Marshall, Former State Representative

• Jim Martin, Former Regional Administrator for the EPA, Former Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources

• Beth McCann, Denver District Attorney

• Michael Merrifield, State Senator

• Mary Mullarkey, Former Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court Justice

• Jeanne Nicholson, Former State Senator

• Derek Okubo, Executive Director of the City of Denver Agency for Human Rights and Community Partnerships

• Erin Overturf, Conservation Advocate/Energy Attorney

• Pat Pascoe, Former State Senator

• Carla Perez, Former Assistant General Manager for RTD and Senior Transportation Advisor to Governor Bill Ritter

• Peg Perl, Democracy TNG

• Monica Piergrossi, Former Director of External Affairs in the Office of Congressional & Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy

• Tom Plant, Former State Representative and Former Director of the Governor’s Energy Office

• Joe Rice, Former State Representative and Former Mayor of Glendale

• Peggy Reeves, Former State Senator

• Bill Roberts, Former Editorial Page Editor of the Durango Herald

• Chris Romer, Former State Senator

• Kelly Romero-Heaney, Northwest Colorado Water Leader

• Eric Rothaus, Former Colorado Deputy Treasurer

• Dorothy Rupert, Former State Senator

• Gail Schoettler, Former Lieutenant Governor and Former State Treasurer, Former Candidate for Governor

• Brandon Shaffer, Former President of the State Senate

• Linda Shoemaker, Vice Chair, University of Colorado Board of Regents

• Jayson Sime, Former State Director of America Votes

• Jacob Smith, Former Mayor of Golden

• Gloria Tanner, Former State Senator and Former State Representative, First African American woman to serve as a Colorado State Senator

• David Thomson, Etre Corporation, CEO

• Pat Waak, Former State Party Chair

• Paul Washington, Former Executive Director of Denver’s Office of Economic Development

• Phillip A. Washington, Retired Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army; Former CEO & General Manager of Denver RTD; and current CEO of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

• Lisa Weil, Executive Director of Great Education Colorado

• Ken Weil, Principal, Social Impact Solutions and Former Deputy Chief of Staff, Governor Bill Ritter

• Gerrit Westervelt, Former President of Educare Colorado

• Denise Whinnen, Colorado Springs Community Leader

• Mary Wickersham, Co-Founder and Principal, Social Impact Solutions, Former Senior Education Policy Advisor, Governor Bill Ritter Jr.

• Jenny Willford, Former Executive Director for Emerge Colorado, candidate for Northglenn City Council

• Meredith Williams, Former Executive Director of PERA

• Suzanne Williams, Former State Senator and Former State Representative

• Thomas Williams, Former Vice President and General Manager of TIAA-CREF’s Western Division

• Dave Young, State Representative