(D) Kamala Harris
(R) Donald Trump
80%
20%
(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) V. Archuleta
98%
2%
(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Marshall Dawson
95%
5%
(D) Adam Frisch
(R) Jeff Hurd
50%
50%
(R) Lauren Boebert
(D) Trisha Calvarese
90%
10%
(R) Jeff Crank
(D) River Gassen
80%
20%
(D) Jason Crow*
(R) John Fabbricatore
90%
10%
(D) B. Pettersen
(R) Sergei Matveyuk
90%
10%
(D) Yadira Caraveo
(R) Gabe Evans
70%↑
30%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
The second half of Quinnipiac University's polling of Colorado out today, via National Journal: In a new Quinnipiac University poll filled with bad trends for Gov. John Hickenlooper, poor ratings for President Obama, and lackluster early numbers for 2016 Democratic presidential contenders, Sen. Mark Udall's, D-Colo., approval ratings stand out as a possible bright spot for […]
UPDATE: Today's statement from Sen. Mark Udall: "The government's collection of millions of Americans' phone records is the type of surveillance I have long said would shock the public if they knew about it. We must strike the right balance between keeping Americans safe and protecting constitutional rights. As the leaders of the Senate Intelligence […]
There are 65 members of the Colorado House of Representatives, and 35 members of the Colorado State Senate. The Colorado legislature as a whole is a representative body, with each Senator representing about 143,691 constituents, and each House member standing for 77,372 Coloradans. The Colorado Constitution outlines the makeup and duties of the state legislature, […]
(To protect, serve, and kowtow? Promoted by Colorado Pols) In 2010, when he was running for Sheriff of Larimer County, Justin Smith answered a "candidate questionnaire" from Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. It posed 10 questions for candidates running for the office of sheriff, and it advised that "failure to answer this survey" would be viewed […]
(This is objectively cool – promoted by Colorado Pols) KOA’s Steffan Tubbs has become the leading media voice in Colorado for U.S. troops. Other local media figures cover the military, including Denver Post photographer Craig Walker, who won a Pulitzer in 2012, but Tubbs gives military personnel regular coverage, in different media platforms, and he […]
Earlier today, I posted about Dave Williams' extreme hostility toward the GBLT community, and the anti-gay bullying which led to Dave's impeachment as UCCS student body president. Yesterday, we covered Dave's disturbing, quasi-violent response to a request for an apology to the gay Army colonel he booed at the 2012 Republican state convention. Because Dave is so deeply committed to opposing homosexuality, one might assume he'd be […]
This article addresses ten of the most fascinating minutes of legislative debate in the history of the Colorado General Assembly. These ten minutes dramatically illustrate the control that lobbyists have over the members of the Colorado Legislature. Video of the ten minutes is available on the website of “The Colorado Channel.” Link: http://www.coloradochannel.net/colorado-senate-2010-legislative-day-20 (Click on […]
In May of this year Colorado PERA retirees will elect a new trustee to represent their interests on the Colorado PERA Board of Trustees. This election provides an opportunity for PERA retirees to place a member on the board who will remind the board that Colorado PERA pension benefits are contractual obligations of PERA-affiliated employers. (PERA’s legal staff has neglected this important duty.) Colorado PERA Board members must realize that the protections of the U.S. Constitution also extend to citizens living in small western states.
I believe that the Colorado PERA Board of Trustees and the Colorado PERA administration would benefit from the presence of PERA Board members who regularly call attention to the contractual nature of public pension benefits in Colorado. Such trustees should encourage PERA’s administrators and lobbyists to routinely and emphatically communicate this contractual status of public pension benefits to members of the Colorado General Assembly. Rather than serving as a discussion forum for potential means of breaching PERA pension contracts, the Colorado PERA Board should work to protect the contractual rights of Colorado PERA members.
Such trustees should have the backbone to withstand attempts by self-interested parties to enact PERA pension reforms that are unconstitutional on their face. Such trustees should insist that PERA-affiliated employers meet their annual required pension contributions, and cease the irresponsible accumulation of their pension debts. Every communication that Colorado PERA Board members have with elected officials should begin with a reminder that the State of Colorado is currently in breach of contract. In conformance with their fiduciary duty, members of the PERA Board should remind members of the General Assembly that $4.3 billion in annual required contributions to the PERA trust funds have been skipped by the General Assembly in the last decade, and that these skipped payments accumulate as public pension debt of Colorado PERA and PERA-affiliated employers.
Colorado PERA Board Trustees should be present at annual PERA presentations to the Joint Budget Committee, Joint Finance Committees, and Legislative Audit Committee to remind state legislators that state expenditures to meet contractual obligations take precedence over discretionary expenditures. PERA trustees should remind state legislators that, although former legislators and Colorado voters have slashed state revenues (Colorado now has the lowest state revenues per capita in the nation), under the Colorado Constitution and the U.S. Constitution, the State of Colorado will never be able to welch on its contractual public pension obligations.
From the Colorado PERA website:
“Board of Trustees Election Slated-Candidates Sought
In May 2013, Colorado PERA will hold an election for seats on the Board of Trustees for the following positions:
One State Division position
Two School Division positions
One retiree position (to be elected by School, Local Government, or Judicial Division retirees)
Candidacy packets may be obtained by writing to:
Colorado PERA
Internal Audit Division
1301 Pennsylvania Street
Denver, CO 80203-5011
To be placed on the ballot, a candidate must fulfill the requirements explained in the candidacy packet. Requests for candidacy packets should include the name, PERA Division of membership, mailing address, daytime telephone number, and signature of the candidate.
Candidates will be subject to a background check.
Members from the State Division who are interested in being a candidate must also indicate whether they are a member of the PERA defined benefit or defined contribution plan.
Ballots will be mailed in early May to the following:
Members of the State Division
Members of the School Division
Retirees from the School, Local Government, and Judicial Divisions
Returned ballots must be postmarked by May 31, 2013.
PERA will be holding elections for the seats currently held by Maryann Motza from the State Division, Scott Noller and Marcus Pennell from the School Division, and Carole Wright, a retiree, whose terms expire June 30, 2013. All positions are for four-year terms.
The Board of Trustees meets at least five times per year and is responsible for adopting the rules and policies for the administration of PERA. Elected Board members serve without pay, but are reimbursed for necessary expenses.”
http://www.denverpost.com/news…
Link to PERA announcement:
We’re obliged to note Westword’s report out yesterday:
Secretary of State Scott Gessler has faced a lot of pushback for his efforts to identify immigrants who are illegally on Colorado’s voter rolls. But over the summer, those criticisms escalated to a new level when he received multiple violent threats, some targeting his family. Through an Open Records request, we now have new details on one disturbing phone call and the subsequent investigation — and more information is expected this week.
While the threats took place over the summer — and death threats toward politicians are not all that uncommon — these cases have a lot of significance now and will continue to be important in the coming months.
Why?
Because Gessler, a Republican and the state’s chief election officer, is currently the focus of criminal and ethics investigations, both the result of complaints from Colorado Ethics Watch, a watchdog group that has closely scrutinized Gessler on a number of issues. Based on open records requests it filed with the Secretary of State’s office, in October Ethics Watch alleged that Gessler had misused state funds for travels outside the scope of his office.
As Westword’s Sam Levin reports, a call placed to the state’s election information line last August turned into a long rant about the letters Gessler sent over the summer to registered voters he dubiously “suspected” may not be citizens. The caller said Republicans “should be shot in the head,” and indicated that “many people” know where Gessler’s family lives.
The call was investigated by the CBI, but Denver DA Mitch Morrissey declined to press charges. Investigation reportedly reveals this person made a similar threat toward Rep. Doug Lamborn last year, and Levin’s retelling of the CBI report paints a picture of a harmless, albeit very stupid, crackpot. That said, we don’t think anyone will dispute the necessity of taking any such threats made against the Secretary of State or his family seriously.
In terms of the investigation(s) underway regarding Gessler’s alleged misuse of discretionary funds, however, Westword’s Open Records Act request explains only one detail among numerous questionable incidents–from using these funds to attend partisan events at all, to “sweeping” the account empty at fiscal year’s end in a check to himself. Sympathy for Gessler over threats made against him or his family, which we’ll say again are totally unacceptable, doesn’t extend to excusing unethical or illegal behavior on his part.
But if any of you happen to recognize this crackpot, please let him know he’s not helping.
In a post Thursday, I discussed a conversation between two local talk-radio hosts and Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Page Editor, Wayne Laugesen.
Unfortunately, the good folks at KLZ’s Grassroots Radio Colorado thought I unfairly presented their show as attacking every garden-variety environmentalist under the sun, not just the radical fringe.
I disagree, but I’ve posted more of the exchange between Laugesen and the KLZ hosts below, including more insight into Laugesen’s thinking on whom he’s referring to when he talks about “radical” environmentalists. Warning: he’s pretty vague, as some suspected on ColoradoPols and elsewhere.
I’d love to meet the soccer-mom environmentalist from Jefferson County who feels good about the Republican Party after hearing this conversation on conservative talk radio.
If the KLZ radio hosts, and Laugesen for that matter, really cared about the toxic effect of talk radio on the Republican Party, here’s a suggestion on how they could begin to do something about it.
Have an actual debate! Bring a mainstream environmentalist on the show, for example, when you talk about radical environmentalists or environmentalism as religion. Refuse to be a guest unless more than shades of conservative gray are present. I’m not saying this never happens, but do it more often, please.
Chances are, when the echo chamber starts echoing on talk radio, it’s turning off most of the electorate. That’s when you need to bring in an opposing view.
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