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5 of Colorado Statesman’s “Top 12 Races to Watch” are in Jeffco

Posted on February 28, 2012February 28, 2012 by Colorado Pols

The Colorado Statesman’s inimitable Ernest Luning last week gave his rundown of the top 12 tightest legislative races to watch in 2012.

Lo and behold, nearly half of all of those races are in Jeffco.

From Luning:

It’s just four months until Colorado voters cast ballots in the June primary, and already the battle for control of the General Assembly is taking shape.

Following last year’s contentious reapportionment fight, which scrambled districts statewide and resulted in an unusually high number of competitive districts – at least as measured by voter registration statistics – both Republicans and Democrats are vying for majorities in the state House and Senate. Republicans currently hold a one-vote margin in the House, and Democrats control the Senate by five votes, but an unprecedented turnover in the chambers means those majorities could be entirely up for grabs this year.

The Colorado Statesman has compiled a list of the 12 legislative races – including a handful of primaries – to watch this year, based on interviews with party strategists, campaign operatives, candidates and neutral observers. At the end of each month up to the election, we’ll update the list to reflect changes in the ranking based on what’s sure to be a dynamic campaign year.

…

1. Senate District 22 – Democratic state Rep. Andy Kerr vs. Republican state Rep. Ken Summers

This is the marquee legislative race this year because it pits two solidly partisan, veteran lawmakers against each other in a quintessential swing district smack in the middle of bellwether Jefferson County. It’s also the contest that has seen the most twists and turns on the way to the final line-up, promising plenty of excitement right down to the wire. Reapportionment maps crowded state Reps. Kerr and Summers, along with Democratic state Rep. Max Tyler, into the same House district, leaving Kerr and Summers to emerge as candidates for the open Senate seat.

Rated: A pure toss-up.

…

3. House District 29 – Incumbent Republican state Rep. Robert Ramirez vs. Democratic challenger Tracy Kraft-Tharp

Even if this north Jefferson County district weren’t one of the most evenly divided in the state, it would still feature one of the most hotly contested races if only because of its symbolic value. This was the seat that flipped control of the House from Democrats to Republicans in 2010 when Ramirez toppled state Rep. Debbie Benefield by a mere 197 votes. Since that win, House Speaker Frank McNulty has been touting Ramirez as the linchpin for Republicans. Though he briefly flirted with a run for his Senate seat, by all appearances he’s working as hard to keep his seat as he did to win it the first time around, facing a strong challenge from lawyer Kraft-Tharp, a Democratic Party stalwart.

Rated: Pure toss-up.

…

6. Senate District 19 – Incumbent Democratic state Sen. Evie Hudak vs. Republican challenger Lang Sias

Republicans want this Arvada and Westminster seat in a big way, evidenced by a flurry of TV ads – yes, TV ads! – already unleashed on Hudak in an attempt to soften her up for past congressional candidate Sias. The ads went after Hudak for supporting last fall’s failed ballot initiative Proposition 103. It would have raised state taxes by $3 billion to fund education, a hot-button issue Democrats aren’t too worried will irreparably damage the former teacher, whose views on education funding are hardly a secret. On the heels of his losing primary to run against U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, Sias brings campaign experience and the past backing of U.S. Sen. John McCain to the suburban battleground.

Rated: Hudak’s familiarity with district gives her a slight edge, but Sias could benefit from sour voter mood.

…

7. House District 28 – Republican Amy Attwood vs. the winner of a Democratic primary between Brian Carroll and Brittany Pettersen

By the numbers alone, this Lakewood district ought to be a safe Democratic seat, but the combination of a combative Democratic primary and a seasoned Republican candidate make the outcome less predictable. Attwood knows the district inside and out, having run a failing bid for Lakewood City Council and gotten a jump on the partisan side as an aide to state Rep. Ken Summers, who is running for an open Senate seat. She’ll have the advantage of campaigning unobstructed through June while the Democrats slog through a primary. Campaign organizer Pettersen jumped in the race last week at the urging of local Democrats who feared Carroll had burned too many bridges during his short-lived primary challenge last fall against state Rep. Andy Kerr, when Carroll ran as the first openly gay veteran to launch a bid following the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military rule.

Rated: Pettersen looks strong out of the gate, and if primary isn’t too bruising could hold the advantage in November.

…

8. House District 23 – Incumbent Democratic state Rep. Max Tyler vs. Republican challenger Rick Enstrom

Touted as a top example of Republican legislative candidate recruitment efforts this year, Enstrom’s bid to unseat Tyler could give the Democrat his first real race in the central Jefferson County district. The candy man brings a solid record of public service and mainstream GOP positions to a race Republicans hope to turn into a referendum on Tyler’s more liberal approach to government.

Rated: Leans Tyler, but Enstrom will make him work for it.

We think Luning is spot on in almost all of his analysis. The campaign between Kerr and Summers isn’t simply the most compelling in Jeffco, it’s an incredibly important indicator of Colorado’s political temperature as 2012 progresses. There’s good reason it’s the top race to watch.

We disagree, however, that the race between Kraft-Tharp and Ramirez is a toss-up. Kraft-Tharp is outraising the sitting representative, after all. Ramirez’s brief exit from the House race only bolsters the perception that Kraft-Tharp is the candidate to beat, and that perception will only lead to increased fundraising. Luning’s right that the dynamics of this race may very well change between now and November – Ramirez will no doubt receive a healthy amount of outside support from those wanting to preserve the razor-thin GOP majority in the House – but we think Kraft-Tharp is currently enjoying a definite edge. Ramirez knows it, too.

As for the House District 28 campaign, we agree that Pettersen is making the best case for the Democratic nomination right now in part because of her backing from prominent “local Democrats.” If Carroll can argue, however, that he’s learned from his past indiscretions and if he continues pulling in enough money, he’ll swiftly fill the gap. He’ll also need to demonstrate that he didn’t move into Lakewood just to run for office.

Either way, we give Attwood the advantage against either Democratic candidate. Unlike both Carroll and to a lesser extent Pettersen, Attwood is well-known in Lakewood. Yes, she lost her last campaign for Lakewood City Council, but that only gives her impetus to work that much harder for the house seat. And we suspect that many Lakewood voters wish Attwood had won her last election, given Councilman Dave Wiechman’s recent problems.

Paul Rosenthal Gets the Incumbent Treatment Courtesy of Pat Steadman

Posted on February 26, 2012February 26, 2012 by Colorado Pols

Sitting elected officials at the state level are often reluctant – and sometimes downright recalcitrant – to endorse any candidate in a state level race when that candidate is in a primary.

There’s good reason for that, of course, particularly in districts with such heavy registration advantages for either party that the primary election is akin to the general. Sitting legislators will ostensibly have to work with whoever wins their party’s primary, and “working together” becomes a whole lot more awkward when there’s lingering resentment because you endorsed the losing candidate.

That’s why it comes as a surprise that State Senator Pat Steadman will be holding a joint fundraiser with HD-9 candidate Paul Rosenthal. Steadman isn’t just an honorary “host” of a Rosenthal fundraiser – standard fare for an elected endorser. Instead, Steadman will be fundraising for his own campaign right alongside Rosenthal.

From Steadman:

Please join us on Thursday, March 8th from 5:30-7:30P.M. for a rockin’ happy hour in support of two candidates for the 69th General Assembly.

Suggested Contribution: $50

($25 to each candidate committee)

Contribute online at http://www.peopleforpaul.com & http://www.patsteadman.com

Gunther Toody’s Denver Diner

4500 E. Alameda Ave. (at Leetsdale Dr.)

Glendale CO, 80246

That Steadman is encouraging donors to give both to his own re-election campaign and Rosenthal’s campaign fund is evidence that Rosenthal has been widely and wildly accepted as the eventual Democratic nominee in HD-9. Steadman clearly isn’t afraid to step on Rosenthal challenger Bill McMullen‘s toes because there’s no chance that Rosenthal won’t get his party’s nod.

It’s events like these that make the HD-9 race all that much stranger. Paul Rosenthal’s never won any of his campaigns for public office yet he’s being treated as though he’s the sitting representative, joint fundraising events with an area state senator and all. RTD-Director Bill McMullen, on the other hand, can point to his record in public policy and government as well as the fact that he’s demonstrated his ability to win a campaign. By all measures, McMullen is a much more credible candidate – he should be the one enjoying legislator endorsements, or at the very least, he should be able to prevent people like Steadman from endorsing in the race at all.

Chalk it all up to timing, folks. Rosenthal had been publicly gunning for the HD-9 seat since May 2011 and hinting about it even earlier. If McMullen had entered the race the very second Joe Miklosi announced his CD-6 run, he might’ve had a fighting chance. As it stands now, however, McMullen seems like a misguided outsider campaigning against someone with all the benefits of incumbency and none of the drawbacks of a career in politics.

Always Renew Your Domain Names: Jeanne Labuda Edition

Posted on February 26, 2012February 26, 2012 by Colorado Pols

If you’re a candidate for any public office, one of your first steps should be registering a domain name that consists of your first name and last name – nothing more, and nothing less.

The reasoning is simple: when voters first get their ballots and they see an unfamiliar name, they’ll turn to Google before they try to remember what they saw on the mail piece they threw out three weeks ago. If you’re a candidate or any sort of public figure, then, it’s important that the information you’ve crafted be the first info they see on the web and equally important that those supporting your opponent can’t use your own name against you.

HD-1 Rep. Jeanne Labuda has a fairly unique name and as a result her campaign website, jeannelabuda.com, has dominated the Google search for her name. That’s a pretty good URL for Labuda to have: it’s literally as easy to remember as her name, and it’s not so long or obscure – think of something to the tune of Labuda4HD1Rep.com – that it would look out of place on mail or yard signs.

The problem with jeannelabuda.com, however, is that Jeanne Labuda no longer owns it. She used to own it, as evidenced by her campaign filings with the Secretary of State’s Office. Sometime between now and last October, however, Labuda (or whoever was managing Labuda’s website) forgot to renew their domain registration. Now, jeannelabuda.com is a headache-inducing blend of green, red, and white hocking LASIK eye surgery in Japanese. The first thing voters will click on when the Google search Jeanne Labuda, then, is a spammy-landing page that has nothing to do with their representative.

All things considered, this isn’t the end of the world for Labuda. She’s re-located her campaign website to jeannelabudaco.com – it’s not nearly as good as her original URL, but at least her name is still in there somewhere.

Still, this is one of those things that Labuda should never have let happen. Any yard signs or campaign literature that had her old domain on it are now useless, not to mention that Labuda’s website is nowhere near the first (or tenth) page of a Google search for her name. Juxtapose that with primary opponent Corrie Houck, who controls the first page of a search for her name, and it’s clear that Labuda should’ve just paid the 10 or 15 bucks to keep her url. Having a workable, searchable domain name is one of those things that doesn’t give your campaign any perceivable edge but really hurts when you neglect it.

Of course, it’s a simple, easily avoidable mistake like this that really showcases why Houck is challenging Labuda in the first place. If Labuda can’t even organize her campaign such that her domain name doesn’t lapse, the argument goes, she may be equally likely to make similar mistakes throughout 2012. The difference is that those mistakes matter; if Labuda hasn’t crafted a campaign organization now, who’s to say she’ll have one by the time she actually needs to defend her seat?

When politicians talk directly about “messaging,” reporters should tune in

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Jason Salzman

I love politicians who will talk openly about their “messaging.” Everyone knows it chews up huge amounts of behind-the-scenes time (and money), but the insider debate about messages doesn’t spill out much. When it does, reporters should be all over it, not to play “gotcha,” but to help real people (none of whom read this […]

Did Newly Minted Candidate Rick Enstrom Lie to the Legislature?

Posted on January 10, 2012 by JeffcoWgirl

It’s one thing for a humble candy shop owner to acknowledge that he may have been a little less than forthcoming when testifying against a candy tax proposal, but if a candidate for the State House lied to the House Appropriations Committee, no spoonful of sugar will make that medicine go down easy with the voters of House District 23. Let’s have a look, shall we?

When Rick Enstrom testified in 2010 against Bill Ritter’s “candy tax” proposal (not a tax, in actuality, but the suspension of a tax exemption), a revenue-generating measure proposed to shore up Colorado’s fragile budget while encouraging healthier choices, here’s what he had to say:

The last thing we need or can afford in these difficult times is to negatively impact the price of our product to the consumer resulting in fewer sales and further reductions in earnings.

We paid over $3,300,000 to 340 different Colorado vendors last year that will be indirectly affected by this tax, and spent over $1,660,000 with FedEx, a huge Colorado employer that delivers our products and moves product between our stores.

(Enstrom’s full remarks may be found at the Westword)

But as you’ll see after the jump, the real impact on Enstrom Candies wasn’t quite so sour…

Paging Ted Stevens: Jeffco’s Bridge to Nowhere

Posted on November 11, 2011November 11, 2011 by Colorado Pols

We highly recommend you check out 9News’ Kyle Clark’s two pieces on Jeffco’s “Bridge to Nowhere” for examples of truly great investigative reporting.

Clark centers his story on the pedestrian bridge located at Wadsworth Boulevard and Bowles Avenue in South Jeffco, which links Southwest Plaza and Bowles Crossing shopping centers. We’ve seen that bridge before, but we’ve never seen anybody actually use it. Neither mall is really vibrant, and we have a creeping suspicion that the bridge will remain standing much longer than the shipping centers it links.

The most bizarre aspect of this story, though, is that Jefferson County can’t even justify the $3 million they spent on the bridge. At least, they can’t justify it privately.

From 9News:

As Jefferson County publicly defended a $3 million pedestrian bridge at Wadsworth Boulevard and Bowles Avenue as a “lasting asset,” the county’s engineer on the project privately acknowledged it was expensive and unnecessary, 9Wants to Know has learned.

Internal emails obtained by 9Wants to Know using Colorado Open Records Act show county officials struggling to justify the pedestrian bridge, completed in the spring of 2011 using a combination of federal and local tax dollars.

The bridge spanning Wadsworth just north of Bowles, connects two aging shopping malls, Southwest Plaza and Bowles Crossing. Some citizens, including resident Gary Michelson, have dubbed it: “The Bridge To, And From, Nowhere.”

When Michelson wrote to county leaders calling the bridge a “terrible waste of funds,” he received a stock answer from project engineer Brad Bauer that was similar to the two-page defense of the project sent to other concerned citizens. In one such response, Bauer writes the bridge will be a “lasting asset” that will “significantly improve the pedestrian safety at the intersection.”

That is not what the county’s point-man on the project was saying behind the scenes.

After an email exchange with Michelson, Bauer emailed his supervisor on June 22 saying he was “having a hard time coming up with any good response,” adding that he could agree with Michelson’s points about “the bridge being an expensive unnecessary expense.”

Just to make it clear: the liaison for the project is unable to respond to constituent complaints about the bridge, because he agrees with them.

Clark interviews Kevin French, with Jeffco’s Transportation and Engineering Department, and French is about as eloquent as Rick Perry in his most recent debate performance. You really have to watch the interview to get the full effect, but French doesn’t really answer any of Clark’s questions. When asked how French’s department can justify, well, their justification of the bridge to concerned taxpayers, French responds “it’s the best we have.” That’s the answer he finally comes to, at least, after first responding that he “wasn’t sure he had a good answer to that.” If you’re a big fan of deer caught in headlights, it’s a must watch.

This is one of the most asinine government decisions we’ve ever seen, and that’s saying something for Jefferson County. $3 million for a bridge? The August 2009 resolution which Clark discusses is even worse: then Commissioners Kevin McCasky and Kathy Hartman voted for it, as did current Commissioner Faye Griffin. They approved an “expenditure of an amount not to exceed $376,600.00 to Muller Engineering Company, Inc. for final design, and additional services as needed.”

Nearly $400,000 for the “final design,” huh? 400 grand for a couple of drawings of a bridge? We assume the “additional services as needed” are in case Muller Engineering ran out of graph paper or erasers.

This is an important story for champions of good, transparent government, of course. But it also carries with it political implications. The folks in south Jeffco – those who see this bridge during their daily commutes – historically support the election of Republicans to the Board of Commissioners. But this same bridge, this “monument of government waste,” was approved with the votes of Republicans Kevin McCasky and Faye Griffin. If the vote on this bridge was before 2008’s election, we’re not sure if McCasky could’ve recovered.

Reporters should note that Hick budget chief made same proposal when he worked for Owens

Posted on November 2, 2011December 28, 2012 by Jason Salzman

(We call this phenomenon “GOP amnesia” – promoted by Colorado Pols) In its coverage of the release of Hickenlooper’s proposed state budget, The Denver Post predicted a partisan battle in the state legislature next year over Hick’s proposal to suspend Senior Homestead Exemption, which gives some seniors a property-tax break and costs the state around […]

DPS Candidates Say, “Thanks, Dubya!”

Posted on October 21, 2011October 21, 2011 by Colorado Pols

9NEWS on former President George W. Bush’s visit to Denver yesterday:

Former President George W. Bush says he continues to have a “great passion” for education even though he considers himself to only be an observer in politics these days.

Bush made the remarks Thursday morning in Denver after meeting with Mayor Michael Hancock and local education leaders at Get Smart Schools, a nonprofit Colorado group that trains principals for innovation and charter schools…

“President Bush really starts with the heads of the school. He believes they set the tone for the school to hold schools accountable,” Denver Mayor Michael Hancock said. “So he really talked about accountability and how it’s important to make sure the leader of the institution sets the right tone for achievement and accomplishments.

Bush says that an “excellent school must first have an excellent leader.”

“It was good to hear what led [Bush] to really push for No Child Left Behind, and it was about accountability,” Hancock said…

Adds UPI:

Bush…avoided talking about possible legislative changes to his administration’s No Child Left Behind law, The Denver Post reported…

“He’s someone who has been there done that, so it was good just to get some ideas from him,” Hancock said. “It was perfect timing for me to have the opportunity to hear what led him to create (the No Child Left Behind) legislation.”

Now of course that’s the same No Child Left Behind Act that has been panned recently by just about everybody debating education, from Sens. Rand Paul to Michael Bennet–the former, as we discussed this week, maybe not really forthright about it when it comes time to legislate, but still very much in lip-service agreement that NCLB has been a failure. Bennet has emerged as a leading proponent of sweeping overhaul.

Let’s talk about the optics of Bush’s visit with DPS elections right around the corner.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock has endorsed the three Denver Public School Board candidates loosely identified as the “reform slate.” In the closing weeks of a bitter, extremely well-financed campaign, the allegations being exchanged between these candidates are getting pretty acrimonious. Would a loss by reformers lead to an immediate halt to reform efforts at DPS, and the summary ouster of superintendent Tom Boasberg? Would victorious reformers support a religious school voucher program a la Douglas County?

In all probability, neither of those outcomes are likely, and any changes will be more gradual than it ever feels two weeks before the election. But with the rhetoric at a fever pitch on both sides, we cannot see how Bush’s visit to Denver–a visit rescheduled from February to less than two weeks before the elections–is going to settle anybody’s nerves. As the face of NCLB, not to mention a former President whose historical legacy in general is, to put it mildly, hotly debated, the possibility of this visit affecting voter sentiment in the DPS elections is quite real. Hancock’s praise for Bush and the universally reviled NCLB is a political risk in the context of these school board races, and his endorsements, that we would never have taken.

Breaking: Bob Fifer Fixes Elderly Woman’s Cell Phone

Posted on September 15, 2011September 17, 2011 by Colorado Pols

We’ve received a lot of press releases here at Jeffco Pols over the years. There have been good ones and bad ones, but there’s one we received a few weeks ago from Bob Fifer, a candidate for Arvada’s At-Large Council Seat, that just needs to be published somewhere.

From the Bob Fifer campaign:

ARVADA, Colo. (Aug. 31, 2011) – Bob Fifer, a candidate for the Arvada City Council, has already knocked on 1,000 doors this campaign season, talking to voters about ways he can most help them when he is elected to office Nov. 1.

On the way to those 1,000 doors in various districts of Arvada, he has walked nearly 64 miles and taken an estimated 152,000 steps – with a goal of reaching 2,000 doors over the next eight weeks. He has listened to long lists of the things residents like best about Arvada – and some of the issues they hope he can help solve.

One elderly woman even asked him to help fix her cell phone.

“It was over 100 degrees that day, and after she invited me in for water, I ended up staying almost an hour,” he said. “While I was talking to her, her cell phone rang; and it was so loud, it startled me. She laughed and said she had been trying to fix the volume for months.”

The cell phone was a relic by today’s standards, and Fifer had to invest considerable time to figure out the settings. [Pols Emphasis] He works for CenturyLink, but he is on the network side, not involved in mobile hardware. Before long, he was back on the trail, listening to concerns on topics ranging from road conditions to golf course maintenance. He estimates about 60-70 percent of residents have been available to listen to his description of all the ways he loves Arvada and plans to make it even better.

And he has the volume turned up on his own mobile device, in case anybody has additional questions — including the elderly resident with the antiquated flip-phone.

“I told her to call me if she has any more trouble,” he said.

Did you get that?! Bob Fifer, a candidate for Arvada City Council, took the time out of his busy day to turn the volume down on a voter’s cell phone. Going far above and beyond the call of duty, Fifer even “invested considerable time to figure out the settings.” Wow. That’s the kind of dedication and responsiveness that Arvada needs on City Council. In our opinion, Fifer just drastically solidified his standing as the frontrunner.

Seriously, though, press releases like these demonstrate just how little news or buzz there is surrounding Jeffco’s municipal elections this cycle. We find it really comical. Picture some maverick reporter in a dimly-lit, smoke-filled room slaving over how best to transform this press release into a well-written piece of hard hitting journalism.

Still, with credit to Fifer’s press guy Steve Caulk, this release not-so-subtly tells us about the candidate, his career, and his door-knocking progress without coming off as too prosaic. It’s novel to the point of absurdity, but it’s readable. Sort of.

We almost feel bad for Caulk: the former two-decade Rocky sports reporter-cum-editor has to be more than a little bored in applying his not inconsiderable talent to a City Council race. We just hope that Caulk stays on if Fifer wins. Can you imagine the newsletters?

Denver Daily News was was making money when it closed

Posted on August 30, 2011December 28, 2012 by Jason Salzman

( – promoted by Colorado Pols) I had a hard time believing it, when the Denver Daily News closed back in June. The free daily seemed to be growing and doing well. I was thinking its chances of survival were greater than The Denver Post’s. Then it was gone, with no real explanation of why […]

Search Results for: when is a good time to buy cheap airline tickets phone number 1-800-299-7264

5 of Colorado Statesman’s “Top 12 Races to Watch” are in Jeffco

Paul Rosenthal Gets the Incumbent Treatment Courtesy of Pat Steadman

Always Renew Your Domain Names: Jeanne Labuda Edition

When politicians talk directly about “messaging,” reporters should tune in

Did Newly Minted Candidate Rick Enstrom Lie to the Legislature?

Paging Ted Stevens: Jeffco’s Bridge to Nowhere

Reporters should note that Hick budget chief made same proposal when he worked for Owens

DPS Candidates Say, “Thanks, Dubya!”

Breaking: Bob Fifer Fixes Elderly Woman’s Cell Phone

Denver Daily News was was making money when it closed

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