It’s hotter than Donald Trump’s blowdrier outside. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols! If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example). If you are more of a visual learner, check out The Get More Smarter Show.
► The Get More Smarter Show is back with another episode. This week we talk to Ian Silverii, former Chief of Staff to House Speaker Dickey Lee Hullinghorst and the new Executive Director at ProgressNow Colorado, to get the lowdown on the top State House Primaries to watch as the June 28th Primary approaches.
One of those top House races is in Colorado Springs in HD-16, where incumbent Rep. Jonak Joshi is taking the gloves off in his battle against former lawmaker Larry Liston.
► Registered Democrats and Republicans should start receiving mail ballots this week for the Primary election. If you haven’t received a ballot by the end of the week, you might want to check your registration or address status. Go to JustVoteColorado.org for more information.
► The Denver Post continues its weeklong look at the five Republican candidates seeking their Party’s nomination for the U.S. Senate. Today’s focus is on former Colorado State University Athletic Director Jack “Nighthorse” Graham, and it’s not a particularly flattering story — particularly in regards to how Graham’s tenure at CSU came to a close.
Elsewhere, the five GOP Senate candidates participated in another debate on Wednesday, this time in Colorado Springs. As the Colorado Springs Gazette reports, things got pretty chippy when Darryl Glenn challenged Jon Keyser over the details of his military record.
If you missed Tuesday’s Senate debate at 9News, here’s a good rundown from the Colorado Independent. You can also check out our debate grades from Tuesday evening.
► The Presidential race is shifting into General Election mode, and Colorado may once again play a significant role in determining whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump becomes our next Commander in Chief. As Colorado Public Radio reports, more than $39 million in TV time has already been reserved for Presidential campaign ads in Colorado.
Get even more smarter after the jump…
► Hillary Clinton may very well choose a Coloradan as her running mate this fall, but political observers are split on whether Gov. John Hickenlooper or former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is the more likely selection. In a rundown presented by the Washington Post, it is Salazar — and not Hickenlooper — whose name makes it onto a short list of possible contenders.
Here’s an interesting trivia answer about the Vice Presidential selection process from the Washington Post:
Clinton would appear unlikely to pick a fellow New Yorker as her VP pick, as the Constitution says two candidates cannot win the electoral votes from a state they both reside in. However, one of the candidates could establish residency in another state, which has happened before; then-Texas resident Dick Cheney did so when he was then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush’s VP pick in 2000.
► If you weren’t outside the State Capitol on Wednesday, you apparently didn’t get the notice that it was “wag your finger at Donald Trump day.” As we wrote yesterday, a whole gaggle of Democrats — including Hickenlooper and Senate Minority Leader Lucia Guzman — took part in a press conference condemning Trump for his racist comments about a sitting federal judge.
► Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell doesn’t know the first thing about Colorado Senate candidate Darryl Glenn, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll be a huge fan because of Glenn’s endorsement from the anti-establishment Senate Conservative Fund.
► Look on the bright side, Jon Keyser — this will all be over in just three more weeks. But in the meantime, it appears that the other four Republican Senate candidates will not hold back on criticizing Keyser for his handling of an ongoing petition fraud scandal. From the Colorado Statesman:
Denver police on Wednesday arrested the woman accused of forging signatures on petitions she was paid to gather for Republican U.S. Senate candidate Jon Keyser.
Prosecutors filed 34 felony forgery charges Monday against Maureen Marie Moss, 45, who stands accused of submitting 34 fraudulent signatures belonging to voters in Denver, Jefferson and Arapahoe counties on nominating petitions Keyser used to gain access to the June primary ballot.
“I appreciate law enforcement acting swiftly to apprehend this woman so justice can be served,” Keyser said in a statement after Moss had been taken into custody.
The spokesman for one of Keyser’s four rivals in the June 28 Republican primary pointed a finger at Keyser.
“It is unfortunate that Jon Keyser exercised no due diligence in hiring this individual who apparently collected fraudulent signatures to get him on the ballot,” Dick Wadhams, manager of Jack Graham’s campaign, told The Colorado Statesman.
“It’s good to hear that responsibility is being assumed in the forged signature debacle,” said Rachel Keane, a spokeswoman for candidate Robert Blaha. [Pols emphasis]
But, but…he’s “on the ballot.”
► Media watchdog Jason Salzman gives a thumbs up to Colorado reporters for continuing to push local elected officials to provide their opinions on Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump.
► Hillary Clinton clinched the Democratic Presidential nomination earlier this week, and President Obama wasted little time in officially endorsing his former Secretary of State.
► The race for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination has sucked up most of the oxygen in the political room in recent weeks. But if you had forgotten about the big Congressional race in CD-6, where Democrat Morgan Carroll is challenging incumbent Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Aurora), don’t worry — you’ll be reminded regularly. As Ernest Luning reports for the Colorado Statesman:
With more than $11 million in fall television ads already reserved, the race between Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman and his challenger, Democratic state Sen. Morgan Carroll, promises to live up to its billing as one of the hardest-fought — or at least most expensive — congressional contests in the country this year. And that’s without any reservations by one of the candidates or prominent outside groups expected to spend heavily in the battle for the 6th Congressional District…
…The National Republican Campaign Committee has reserved $3,648,935 worth of cable and broadcast ads in the district for the last seven weeks before the election, according to media trackers. (The NRCC is also spending around $600,000 in the Denver market on the 3rd Congressional District race between U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, a Cortez Republican, and former state Sen. Gail Schwartz, his Democratic challenger.)
Its counterpart across the aisle, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has reserved $3,249,909 worth of cable and broadcast ads in the final six weeks before the election. The House Majority PAC, a super PAC devoted to electing House Democrats, has reserved $3,109,668 in broadcast and cable ads during the final four weeks.
All told, that’s $11,216,852 in ad reservations, with the anticipated spending by party committees and the super PAC already surpassing the amounts outside groups poured into the 6th CD race two years ago, when Coffman faced challenger Andrew Romanoff, a former speaker of the Colorado House.
► Donald Trump’s support among Congressional Republicans continues to teeter as fallout continues from his racist remarks toward a federal judge. Colorado’s five Republican Senate candidates are all disappointed about Trump’s racist comments, but none of them will actually oppose his bid for President.
► The Loveland Reporter-Herald is hosting a debate among Republican candidates seeking the nomination for HD-51 in Loveland.
► Lookie here, another bizarre rant from Donald Trump has emerged.
► Watch the new episode of the Get More Smarter Show. Do it now.
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Not sure if anyone picked this up – I know it's been floating around for a day or two…
At Least It's Not Your State Highway Patrol: Oklahoma's highway patrol now owns (and is using) 16 machines designed to empty your bank account or pre-paid debit card under the theory that they qualify for civil asset forfeiture. It seems they loot your account when they pull you over if they suspect you've been involved in a crime.
Naturally, the maker of the device stands to make a profit: 7.7% of all cash seized using their devices. And also naturally, they claim you can get it back if you can prove that neither you nor anyone else in the car has ever done anything bad.
The whole concept of civil asset forfeiture has gone 'round the bend long long ago IMHO. Originally designed to make it harder for big-time criminals to use their ill-gotten gains while they were under investigation, it's turned into a guilty-until-proven-innocent weapon against regular people. There has to be a better way.