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August 30, 2005 08:00 AM UTC

Ritter or Fitz-Gerald?

  • 36 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

With former Denver DA Bill Ritter the only current Democratic candidate for governor, and State Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald considered the next likely of the donkeys to enter the race, the question for many Democrats is: who’s better?

If polling data indicates anything, it might be Ritter. A recently completed statewide poll shows that Ritter has better statewide name ID than Fitz-Gerald by a considerable margin. Here’s the numbers, including favorable vs. unfavorable ratings:

Bill Ritter
Favorable: 26%
Unfavorable: 8.2%
No Opinion: 35%
Never Heard Of: 31%

Joan Fitz-Gerald
Favorable: 13%
Unfavorable: 4.3%
No Opinion: 38%
Never Heard Of: 45%

First off, you have to take these numbers with at least one grain of the ol’ salt. A similar poll done several weeks ago by a different group showed Fitz-Gerald in a better position than Ritter. What jumps out about these numbers, however, is the ‘Never Heard Of’ response that has Fitz-Gerald at 45% and Ritter at 31%.

What this may indicate is that, while party insiders may be pushing Fitz-Gerald, the general voting public is much more familiar with Ritter. This isn’t a total shock given that the Denver DA has more press opportunities than the Senate President, but it’s still surprising that Fitz-Gerald would be so far behind in name ID. It may also be that Ritter is beginning to get more press since he is the only declared candidate on the Democratic side. Whatever the reason, Fitz-Gerald is going to have some ground to make up if she is going to run for governor.

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36 thoughts on “Ritter or Fitz-Gerald?”

  1. Of course Ritter has better name recognition. He has been an anounced candidate for Governor for weeks (months?) now.

    If this poll has been taken rpior to that, his “never heard of” number whould be lower than Joan’s probably. I base that on the fact she was in the press a lot during the legislative session, so her nu ber would probably be where it is now and Rotter’s would likely have been lower than that.

    If any other Dem gets into the Gov’s race, their name recognition will  jump almost immediately. So these numbers need to be taken not with a grain, but the whole shaker of salt.

  2. Who did the polling, what was the sample size, who did they call, etc…?  This far out name recognition means almost nothing.  In fact, it is probably a benefit for JFG to have less name recognition – clean slates are always better than preconceived ideas of a candidate.

  4. if these polling numbers are correct, this puts ‘ole joan in a odd position.  she’ll need name recognition and the only way for her to do this between now and november is to fervently attach herself to the ref. C&D dog.  this is the problem with ‘lil fitzy though – she’s a somewhat decent backroom negotiator but put her out there in front of the press and her true “personable” character begins to “shine” through.  good for the ritter team though…

    my only question about the polling is this – where was this sampling from? i’m certain that if this was done strictly in the denver metro area, the unfavorable 4.3% would have been much higher because joan has at least one quarter of the population on her grudge list.

  5. Pols, your bias is showing again.  After this weekend, is there anybody around who realistically can say that the Dem to beat isn’t Speaker Andrew Romanoff?  He was clearly the star, and has been touring the state non-stop for several years now.  His name recognition likely blows the others away, and he showed again on Saturday that he has what no other Dem has — the right combination of brains, humor, and speaking ability to decimate either Beauprez or Holtzman.

    You heard it here first:  when the dust settles in November of 2006, Andrew Romanoff will be the governor-elect.

  7. Alva:

    “and State Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald considered the next likely of the donkeys to enter the race”

    You did write that.  That’s the part I’m objecting to, “genius”.  I’ve got no problem with the poll.

  8. We didn’t say that she was the most likely to win, but she is more likely to enter the race in the near future than is Romanoff — and that’s not bias, it’s truth. Fitz-Gerald has done her own poll, while Romanoff isn’t even seriously talking about running.

  10. Alva,
    If you think that Andrew is not seriously discussing running for Gov. you are wrong. He and I have discussed it since before the 2004 election and I am not particularly anyone important. So if he is talking to me about it, you can be sure he is “discussing it” with the poeple he needs to.

  11. Romanoff is talking more seriously about running than most realize.  And Fitz-Gerald is not talking so much about running — it’s those around her who want her to run and are doing the talking.  I think Joan would much rather run for the 2nd CD in 08, and I’d bet that’s going to be her decision…

  12. Dem has a point.  If Udall runs for the Senate in 08, Fitz-Gerald is a shoo-in for both the nomination and a seat in Congress.  Plus, if she runs for Gov. in 06, Republicans could well take her seat, and with it, control of the Senate.  If Fitz-Gerald goes to Congress in 08, in the middle of her four-year Senate term, a Democratic vacancy committee will fill it with a Democrat.  Obviously, it would be fun to be governor, but that adds up to solid reasons for running for the Senate again in 06, then moving up to Congress in 08.

  13. If someone wants to be the Governor, he or she needs  to have political skills to engage in meaningful negotiation, not be a whining crybaby, and have skin that’s a more than one micron deep.  Romanoff is oh-fer on those three. 

    Please, oh puhleeeze, have him get in the race!

  14. “If someone wants to be the Governor, he or she needs to have political skills to engage in meaningful negotiation, not be a whining crybaby”

    This would disqualify the Colorado GOP.

  15. Joan is not a shoo-in for Udall’s seat. Jared Polis has been looking at that seat for a long time. Joan may win the nomination, but nobody is going to hand it to her.

  20. No sweat Ralph, it’s obvious you’re stupid enough to vote DEM.

    With that said, back to the regularly scheduled program…

    Isn’t it a good thing for Joan that her “Never Heard Of: 45%” is so high? If she could mount a good PR campaign, doesn’t she have the better chance to get more voters on her side?

  21. Hey Dan Willis,

    Boy am I underimpressed with your political skills.  So, you’ve had off the record conversations with Andrew Romanof and then you share them with the rest of the world on this blog.  Why should anyone trust telling you anything?  That’s just bad etiquette.

    Is this a serious website or a joke?
    http://votedanwillis.com/
    And if you are running for Andrew’s seat, wouldn’t you want him to run for guv?  It’d be hard for you to get it, when the Speaker of the House has it.

  22. Timmy,

    I didn’t put anything here told in confidence. My point was Andrew has been talking about running for Governor pretty publicly.

    And if you bothered to read my site you would see that I intend to run for Andrew’s seat when he is term-limited in 2008, but am prepared to run should he leave the seat in 2006 to run for higher office.

    I am a patient man, so I am quite happy to wait my turn in 2008 if andrew wants to remain Speaker. Having said that, I DO think Andrew would make a wonderful Governor and would be the Dem’s strongest candidate still in contention.

  23. Dan,

    You are “quite happy to wait your turn”?  I thought the voters get to decide whos turn it will be after Romanoff, or any elected official for that matter.  I hate it when people think they have a right to hold office, Democrat or Republican.

  24. And I hate it when people make stupid assumptions. Of course I was saying “my turn to run”. It IS up to the voters in HD6 to choose. And from the looks of things, when the times come there will be several choices. I know of at least 3 other Dems who want to run for the seat.

  27. “he returned to school and is actively pursuing degrees
    in Public Policy and Law.”

    There are no degrees for Public Policy and Law at Metro State, Dan!

    You should change this to show its accuracy.

  28. I live in HD 6, I’m voting against you Dan, and you can take that all the way to the bank.  Worse still, if you come to my house, I’m going to pretend I don’t know anything and make you sit there and tell me about the issues for an hour.  I’ll even make you a cup of coffee: but it wont be premium blend, it’ll be freeze dried crap that I would never serve to anyone, except you Dan, except you.  And then I’ll plaster your bumper stickers on my car and drive over peoples bicycles and curse and throw trash from my window.  I’ll wear one of your t-shirts with camouflauge pants, and big black boots and do the Black Panther salute in front of the grocery store.  Your done Dan Willis – You are done! (now imagine the scary threat music they play on TV).

  29. WOW – Dan Willis.  Finally the D’s have a whack job as big as some of our whack jobs in the GOP.  Is this cat serious!?!?!?!  Whats with the pork chop side burns dude?  This is political satire right?  Your not dillusional are you?  Andrew would choke himself if you were to follow such a credible legislator like himself.

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