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November 08, 2012 09:49 PM UTC

If You Liked Laura Bradford, You'll LOVE Rep.-Elect Jared Wright

  • 18 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Charles Ashby of the Grand Junction Sentinel reports:

Embattled Republican Jared Wright won the seat to represent House District 54 Tuesday night.

The 29-year-old who faced calls for his ouster from members of his own party because of numerous scandals won 58 percent of the vote, defeating Tim Menger, the Libertarian Party candidate who didn’t expect to be much of a challenger in the race…

Wright joined other Republicans at its campaign-night event held at Two Rivers Convention Center.

But unlike other Republicans at the event, such as state Rep. Ray Scott and U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, Wright didn’t address the crowd.

Jared Wright, as we’ve discussed, is the once-beloved Republican candidate for HD-54 charged with salvaging the party’s sacred honor in the wake of Rep. Laura Bradford’s career flameout–after her questionable traffic stop in Denver last January, and allegations, later swept under the rug, that Bradford invoked legislative immunity to prevent a DUI arrest.

The problem is that Mr. Wright has been just as, if not more embarrassing to the GOP than Bradford was. Wright resigned under a cloud from the Fruita Police Department after an investigation revealed he was regularly clocking in for work while still at home. Later it was disclosed that Wright had a very large amount of consumer debt for which he filed bankruptcy last year, including such examples of fiscal responsibility as tanning memberships and multiple cars. Local Republicans spent the rest of the election trying to persuade Wright to withdraw.

Well folks, not only did Wright fail to listen, he and his baggage are headed to Denver!

Comments

18 thoughts on “If You Liked Laura Bradford, You’ll LOVE Rep.-Elect Jared Wright

  1. I didn’t realize he was that young. So he’s inexperienced as well as suitable for having his likeness in the dictionary under “unethical.” Well, that combination should help keep him from causing too much damage, along with being in the minority.

    1. While I understand the point you’re making, I would like to mention that several of the newly-elected who I expect to do a FINE job are in a similar age range, including Dominick Moreno, the majority’s new Assistant Caucus Chair. He’s as experienced as any freshman legislator should be, having served as a popular city councilman and Mayor Pro Tem.

      There are numerous legislators who were elected with little or no meaningful experience in policy or law, but with 20+ more years of age behind them.

      “Inexperience” is one trait. “Youth” is another. Just because they’re sometimes found together doesn’t mean they’re the same thing.

        1. I haven’t been called a “vapid airheaded whore” or anything similar in a really long time. Hope he’s OK and just taking a break from Pols to keep his blood pressure down.

          (Not an age-related comment, plenty of people my age get a little hypertensive reading blog comments!)

  2. that I allowed myself to forget about Wright. I am actually surprised that he attended the victory party. A more rational dude would have stayed home grateful that he was going to start receiving a paycheck and per diem and health insurance. Then, if he has any mental capacity he would look for his 5 bills and work with others to get them passed and hope he could put his difficulties behind him.

    He is only 29, redemption is possible if he works at it. But, he ought be smarter and stay away from any kind of “party” for a good while.

  3. Someone I know who lives in Fruita and knows Mr. Wright had this to say about the original allegations (slightly edited to protect anonymity):

    “Jared is a good cop, sharp, someone you’d want to see working your case should you be a victim. Unfortunately, the original transgression can generally be explained, but a lie cannot […] I feel bad for him and his family, but such is life in public office.  The repubs golden boy josh penry never got ran through the mud like this and he was banging his campaign manager.”

    With regard to the internecine war that erupted between factions of Mesa County Repubs over Mr. Wright’s candidacy:

    “To address the politics.  It’s obvious there are money power plays happening here in Happy Valley.  I am not surprised as this has been a smoke and mirrors valley forever, especially concerning contracts for construction, oil, gas, and anything that basically is driven by a handful of several companies sucking up all the money coming in and going out of the Valley.  I hope Jared Wright tells all.  I think it would be hilarious that a 28 year old kid knows where the skeletons are.  Interesting note.  My wife knew Jared when he was a freshman at Mesa State.  She’s told me that the kid had zero common sense, so it comes to no one’s surprise that he ran into financial trouble in his 20s.  We all learn somehow and generally, it’s the hard way.”

    It will be interesting to see how the political education of Mr. Wright plays out under the bright lights.

  4. has a Republican counterpart. Even with getting his ass fired for not getting to work on time and lying about and after declaring bankruptcy while shamelessly citing the GOP mantra of “personal responsibility,” Wright still was elected with a resounding margin.

    Proving yet again that all one needs to get elected in Mesa County is having an R after the name and mouthing the proper GOP platitudes to the ultra-conservative base.

    Commissioner-elect John Justman is another example, preaching the teabagger gospel while cashing his farm subsidy paychecks for years.

    No thinking Republicans need apply, and forget Libertarians and Democrats.

    There is no way at present for Mesa County’s former Republican representatives and senators, including Gayle Berry, Tim Foster or Matt Smith could even make the ballot. Never mind former Democratic reps Bernie Buescher and Dan Prinster.

    1. where there are counties that voted 80 percent for Romney, for example.  It’s difficult to imagine in these tea party counties what an R would have to do to actually be rejected by the electorate.  I truly don’t know.  The R can be a pathological liar, semi-literate, have anger management problems plus other personal problems – but it just doesn’t matter to the vast majority of voters.

    2. The implication being that even a deep red district will go for the alternative when their own guy is such a putz. Then “fix” things with a more vetted candidate in 2014.

      Hard to say if that would have come to be. If Wright had won against a Democratic opponent, then we could really say that the R after his name was all that mattered. Now we’ll probably have to wait for him to be primaried in 2014, unless he somehow acquits himself nicely as a representative. CD-5 demonstrates how having absolutely no leadership or individuality is no handicap with Republican voters. Maybe all Wright has to do is keep his nose clean, his head down, and vote the party line.

      1. seeing the hinterlands of Colorado send one wackadoo after another to Denver (or to their county seats and school boards) or hearing Dems’ justifications out there for not fielding candidates.

        I honestly don’t know what it takes to file, but it seems to my politically inexperienced mind that if there’s even the smallest flock of living, breathing Dems in a particular jurisdiction, surely they can find enough gullible aunts and favorite grandads to pony up for the filing fee for the one person among them that doesn’t have a dead boy/girl in their freezer. That’s all they need to do. Then, at least the Dems have a voice in the race–and (on election day) an alternative for the minority of non-loonies.

        The candidate would not even have to run a “campaign”, much less an aggressive one, just every now and then yell, “Pants on fire!”, send an occasional op-ed to the local right wing newspaper (Sure, it might not get published.), call into a talk radio station, demand a debate, or sell off some surplus drug paraphernalia and get arrested–just for the publicity and name recognition.

        I’m not arguing for the glory of the Dem Party. I just feel so pained for all those (perhaps few) folks who must feel so disheartened that they have nowhere to turn, no way to protest the wackadoos–except to stay home and not vote.

        And just in case the wackadoo candidate self-destructs before election day… .

        1. Then may I suggest you move over here into HD54, which is all of Mesa County except what’s in the city limits of Grand Junction. HD54 also has western Delta County. Dan Robinson, a well-known GJ attorney with an impressive community service resume ran a solid, well-funded campaign in HD55, which does have a decent, though heavily outnumbered, population of Democrats. Dan pulled a whopping 38 percent of the vote. Against that rocket surgeon Ray Scott.

          HD54 is a different story. Any Democrat who could fog a mirror would cheerfully be nominated and supported by the Mesa County Democrats. We welcome your interest and look forward to your campaign against Jared Wright.

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