Archive for the ‘State Legislative Races’ Category

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Democratic Senate Campaign Fund Fundraiser

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

Senator Morgan Carroll, Senate Caucus Chair Suzanne Williams, Senator Linda Newell, Senate President Brandon Shaffer, Senate Majority Leader John Morse, Assistant Majority Leader Lois Tochtrop, & Arapahoe County Activists

Cordially Invite You To a Fundraiser To Support the Senate Democratic Majority

When:  Wed. Sept. 30, 2009, 6:00 – 8:00 PM

Where: Dumitri’s at Heather Ridge Country Club, 13521 E. Iliff Avenue Aurora 80114

This event is the support the Democratic Majority efforts of the Democratic Senate Campaign Fund.

Requested donation of $50 automatically enters you for the putting contest with Ed Williams and prizes!

Prizes generously donated:

1st Prize – free golf for 4 anytime – compliments by PGA, Mr. George Wabash
2nd Prize – dinner for 2 anytime @ Dumitri’s on D’Green at Heather Ridge Country Club
3rd Prize – breakfast or lunch anytime @ Dumitri’s on D’Green

Come find out the latest developments, bring your policy suggestions or just come to have fun and meet other great activists!

RSVP to Morgan Carroll at morgan@senmorgancarroll.com.  If you can not attend but would like to support our important work, you can donate online by going to: http://www.codemsenate.com

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Brian O'Donnell announces candidacy for House District 59

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

Brian O’Donnell, a Democrat from Durango, announced his candidacy today for the Colorado State House in the 59th District.

“I am running because we need to improve the economy of Southwest Colorado, make quality healthcare more accessible and affordable, and protect our land and water,” said O’Donnell.

O’Donnell, 38, works as the Executive Director of a Southwest Colorado based non-profit organization, the National Conservation System Foundation.  O’Donnell previously worked as the national Public Lands Director for the sportsmen’s group Trout Unlimited.

Upon announcing his candidacy, O’Donnell stated the importance of representing all parts of the district and working across party lines.

“I pledge to represent all of the citizens in House District 59, whether you live in Archuleta, La Plata, San Juan or Montezuma County.

I will work hard in the Legislature to ensure that the citizens of Southwest Colorado get their fare share of government services, I will fight any effort to take our water, and I will stand up for the needs of our rural communities.

I will always put the needs of our district ahead of partisanship, and I will ensure fiscal discipline in our state government,” said O’Donnell.

A veteran campaigner, O’Donnell has been involved in politics for more than 15 years including work on Congressional and Presidential campaigns.   Because of his expertise on energy, water and land issues, O’Donnell was appointed to the Obama Campaign’s national energy and environment policy committee.

O’Donnell will be touring the district in the coming weeks and months to hear from voters about the issues that matter most to them.

O’Donnell, and his wife Melyssa have lived in La Plata County for more than a decade.  They have an 18-month old daughter, Kara, who was born in Durango.

Visit Brian O’Donnell’s web site at www.brianodonnell.org

Visit Brian O’Donnell on Facebook

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Gov. Ritter Launches Video And Internet Message

Friday, April 17th, 2009

Gov. Bill Ritter today launched a new video and Internet message service that will help keep Coloradans informed about their state government and the Governor’s Office.

The first video and Internet message focuses on the economy, particularly the important role Colorado’s natural gas industry plays in the state’s New Energy Economy and how the industry has helped position Colorado for a strong recovery out of the current downturn.

The video and Internet message will be posted on the Governor’s website (www.colorado.gov/governor) and his YouTube channel and will be distributed via e-mail at least monthly or as events dictate.

Click here to view the first video message:

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/GovRitter/GOVR/1177024890395

Here is the text of Gov. Ritter’s message:

(more…)

Posted in Elected, State Legislative Races | Comments Off

Historic Times for Colorado

Monday, October 20th, 2008

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Two weeks.

Two weeks from tomorrow, we will find out whether our hard work has paid off.

Two weeks from tomorrow, we will know exactly how much field organization in Colorado has helped.

Two weeks from tomorrow, we will have a better idea where we are on this transformation of Colorado from a red state to a blue state.

A lot can happen in two weeks. I’m sure you’ve all heard about the polls showing a lead this way or that, but remember that it only took less than a week for Barack Obama to build a lead in the polls in Colorado. It could take less than a week for that to reverse itself and for John McCain to build a lead in Colorado.

This is NO TIME for complacency. This is NO TIME to assume we have this one “won”.

We only need to look back to 2002. I recall a lot of happy faces the last couple of weeks of 2002 — folks convinced that Tom Strickland would be our new United States Senator. Polls were showing him 5, 6, 7, 8 points in the lead over Wayne Allard. Senator Allard’s obituary was being written. Everywhere I went, Party leaders where smiling and happy over the state of the race.

Then something happened. Colorado voted. And Tom Strickland lost.

“Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” We cannot forget the history here in Colorado. This is not an easy state for Democrats to win. This is not an easy state for Barack Obama to win. This is not an easy state for Mark Udall to win. This is not an easy state for Betsy Markey, or any of our other Congressional candidates, to win.

So here’s my message: if you’ve signed up to volunteer for the campaigns, make sure you show up and work your ass off. Then, sign up for another shift. If you haven’t signed up to work, for crying out loud, SIGN UP NOW!!!! We have field offices and county party offices all across the state. Find yours and SIGN UP NOW!!!!

And if you haven’t voted yet, get out there and vote today — early voting begins today.

—————————-

If you don’t think that the work you do out in the field means anything, take notice of this quiet piece of history that was released over the weekend: The number of active registered Democrats in Colorado is now greater than the number of active registered Republicans. And we now have over a million registered Democrats in Colorado — just 14,000 fewer registered Democrats than Republicans. (The difference between the number of registered voters and the number of “Active” registered voters is that “Active” only include those that have voted in a recent election.)

This news is taking a lot of people, including me, by surprise. I had known we were doing well with the voter registration program we were implementing across Colorado. I just did not realize that we were doing this well. To give you an idea how well Democrats are doing, here are the stats. Since November 2006 — two years ago — Democrats have gained about 142,000 voters. Unaffiliated registration has also jumped by 54,000. But Republicans? Republicans have actually LOST 10,000 registrants since 2006.

Again, though, we cannot afford to leave this job unfinished. We must do whatever we can to get every one of these new voters to the polls between now and November 4; otherwise, all of this will have been in vain.

Don’t let up now. This is the time to spend every last piece of energy fighting for every single vote. We owe that to America.

(h/t to ColoradoPols)

Posted in Presidential Campaign 2008, State Legislative Races, US Senate Race 2008 | Comments Off

All Hands On Deck!

Friday, September 5th, 2008

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Last night, I was in Pueblo, attending the Pueblo Dems’ annual picnic, and this was my message to the 100 or so Democrats gathered at the Pueblo Greenway and Nature Center:

All Hands On Deck!

Throughout the media this morning, you’ve probably heard that we have 60 days until the election. Not in Colorado. In Colorado, folks start voting in less than 30 days! Ballots will be printed and could be sent out by county clerks as early as October 3. By my calculation, that’s 28 days.

28 days to change the world.

By 45 days from now, at least a third of Coloradans who will vote will have already voted. Based on what we’ve seen in 2006 and in the primaries this year, it is safe to assume that less than half of the voters will actually vote in the traditional manner by showing up on November 4th at their precinct polling place.

If you were waiting for the “sprint to the finish line” to get involved, well… we’re there.

Colorado is razor-thin close, and many national experts estimate that Colorado will decide the Presidency. But we don’t only have a Presidency on the line; Mark Udall is facing blistering attacks from those who fear his Colorado values coming to the U.S. Senate, and his vote may be the critical one that gets us to a 60-vote filibuster-proof Senate that can help a President Obama. We have a great opportunity to finally be rid of Marilyn Musgrave in the 4th Congressional District, with Betsy Markey leading most recent polling. And a wave of hard work from volunteers could make Colorado the focus of national attention when we finish with a clean sweep by bringing in Hal Bidlack and Hank Eng to Congress. Finally, the Colorado Republican Party is focused like a laser beam on the 2011 redistricting, and they know they have to take out key Democrats in the State House and State Senate to do so; we’ve got to work hard there.

So, like I said, it’s all hands on deck time. Now, I wouldn’t ask any of you to do something I don’t do myself. Longtime readers of DemNotes know that I spent 2006 criss-crossing the state walking precincts with local candidates. We’re going to do that again this year, walking with candidates all over Colorado, helping with our sweat and shoe leather. And I’ll be staffing phone banks — we’re going to be doing some phone banking tonight at our local party headquarters right here in Canon City.

It’s time.

Knock on doors. Stuff some envelopes. Make some calls.

Without the work of every single Democratic activist, we won’t be able to do this. But if we all work together, we will change the world, and we’ll look back on 2008 as the year Colorado did something pretty darned amazing.

Posted in Congressional Races, Presidential Campaign 2008, State Legislative Races, US Senate Race 2008 | 2 Comments »

On the Road – Montezuma, La Plata and the Tri-counties of Otero, Bent and Crowley

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

Continuing with my weekend catch up visits to outlying areas, I was down in the Southwest in late April. On Saturday, the 26th, I met with about fifteen good Democrats in Cortez. In addition to the officers, like chair Toni Gurnea, Hazel Perkins, chair of the Dolores County Democrats, drove over with husband, Delano. We had a great morning talking about the statewide turnout for caucuses and all the work going forward for the campaigns in 2008.

Montezuma County Democrats are growing again and excited about rebuilding their local party after some rough times. They sent a table full of people over to Durango for the evening dinner.

In Durango, the La Plata County Democrats filled the room with tables and enough excitement to raise the roof. Jean Walters, Chair of the local Democrats, led off an evening of speeches. Wally White has launched his campaign for re-election as County Commissioner. And Peter Tregillus is also running for another commissioner seat. I know that Joelle Riddle, who won in 2006, is eager to keep Wally and have another Democrat on the county commission.

State Sen. Jim Isgar had a chance to talk about the accomplishments of the current legislative session. U.S. Rep. John Salazar also gave an update from the U.S. Congress. But the highlight of the evening was former Texas Agriculture Commissioner, author, and radio show celebrity, Jim Hightower. He gave his usual humorous assessment of the issues, even though he is quite serious about the need for us to “agitate.”

I got to say my words and then ran in to Jim Hightower the next morning. We talked about the changes going on across the country.

On my way to Otero I stopped off at the CD6 Assembly and Convention. The turnout was great but put huge demands on the credentialing system. We learned a lot and elected our first delegates to the national convention.

CD6 also nominated Hank Eng as the Democratic nominee for Congress. Steve Clark and Ivan Botvin were candidates as well, and we thank them for stepping up. Hank received an overwhelming 88% of the vote, which is a tribute to his hard work over the past few months. Hank has a great background, including some similarities to mine – former Peace Corps Volunteer and former USAID employee. He will work hard to earn the support of voters in the district.

This past weekend I attended the annual Tri-County JFK dinner in La Junta, along with 160 other guests. Otero County Democrats presented a check for $500 to me for the state convention. Hooray for Otero County Dems!!! They also gave checks to State Rep. Wes McKinley and the local commissioner candidates.

Rep. McKinley was the evening emcee. Speaker Andrew Romanoff talked about the state legislative session. He did his usual great job.

Betsy Markey talked about her Congressional race in CD4. We are so lucky to have Betsy as our candidate. She will be officially nominated on May 16, but she already is working really hard across the district.

I followed Betsy and talked about the process, the upcoming state and national conventions. It was a message that Democrats in this part of the state were eager to hear. Then Sal Pace addressed the group about his House District race. Finally we heard from Ronnie Carleton on behalf of U.S. Rep. John Salalzar.

Thanks to Ed Morris for his fine work organizing the dinner. It was great to see Otero Chair Diane Ritkoff. I also had a chance to talk to Crowley Democratic Chair, Tom Flores, about the fires around Ordway. And I sat between Mayor Lawrence Sena, former Bent County Chair, and Alex Netherton, current Bent County Chair. It is the best part of being CDP Chair, being able to spend time with hard-working Democrats throughout the state.
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Posted in CDP, Congressional Races, Counties, DNC, National Convention 2008, State Legislative Races | Comments Off

Fremont County's FDR Dinner and Mark Udall

Monday, April 21st, 2008

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

Saturday night, I was honored to co-emcee the annual F.D.R. Dinner for the Fremont County Democrats. My co-host was our great candidate for Fremont County Commissioner, Gloria Stultz (who just finished a very successful stint as the President of the Canon City Chamber of Commerce). Gloria is a great example of the wonderful successes we are seeing across Colorado in recruiting some of the best candidates for 2008 that the Democratic Party has ever seen.

The F.D.R. Dinner is certainly very meaningful to me. When I first moved back to Colorado after law school, the first event I attended for the local Dems was the F.D.R. Dinner. I met a lot of people who have done much since then. That’s where I met Tim Knaus and Chris Gates, who were running against each other (and the incumbent, Phil Perrington) for State Party Chair. In the end, both served terms as State Chair. I sat next to Margaret Atencio, who is now the Second Vice Chair of the State Party, and who was exceedingly nice to me. I also saw this energetic young Democrat who I’d met a couple of weeks earlier in Pueblo at a Young Democrats of Southern Colorado meeting — someone named “Buffie” McFadyen. Looking back, I’m amazed at the potential that existed in that room in February 1999.

During that dinner, the county chair, the late Beatrice Kauffman, announced that the local party needed people to volunteer to run for county party officer positions. Afterward, I went up to Beatrice and introduced myself (I’d just moved to Canon City about two months prior as a new attorney at a local law firm). I told her that I’d been heavily involved in politics at my college, and had worked on a number of campaigns, so I’d be happy to help out as, say, the county party secretary or treasurer. Beatrice responded, “You know, I really don’t want to be the county chair any more. I’ve been doing this for too long. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to be the county chair, would you?” And the rest, as they say, is history.

Fast-forward to 2008. The crowd was easily more than twice the size of the 1999 crowd. The faces were different in many respect, but the energy level and potential were not. There were still candidates for Party office (Ray Plumery, who is running for the Democratic National Committee, along with three or four who are running for National Convention delegate slots). Buffie was still there — but this time, she’s a senior-level State Representative.

And so was our next United States Senator. Mark Udall came down to Canon City with his campaign manager, Mike Melanson (who served, by the way, as the State Party’s Executive Director under the aforementioned Tim Knaus). Congressman Udall did a great job talking about his positive vision for America’s future. He focused on the need for a better national security and foreign policy agenda, and he also spent a great deal of time talking about the need for a common-sense energy agenda that focuses on new technologies and renewable resources. Congressman Udall was a huge hit, exciting the crowd so much he received two rousing standing ovations.

We also heard from other candidates. Hal Bidlack (candidate for Congress in the 5th CD) spoke at the beginning of the agenda, and he was funny, heart-warming, and insightful as usual. He seems to be a natural candidate, and he’s doing a good job of getting all around the district and meeting folks. Anna Lord, who is one of the most tireless campaigners out there, was present to talk about her follow-up bid for HD21. Cal Cali, who is a candidate for HD60, was also there to explain his thoughts and his campaign. Finally, we heard from Buffie McFadyen, who is running for her final term as a Representative for HD47. So far, the Republicans have not been able to field a candidate to run against her — they’ve run heavily targeted campaigns the last two elections only to come up losing by larger and larger margins each time. She brought down the house in her usual style — and even brought a tear or two by remembering Beatrice Kauffman and that first FDR Dinner we both attended in 1999.

In the end, Fremont Dems raised a great deal of money, and will have a good treasury to go into 2008 with. When combined with a great ballot of candidates, the Fremont Dems are looking to continue the transformation of this Republican county just the same way we’ve transformed what used to be a Republican state!

Posted in Congressional Races, Counties, County Races, State Legislative Races, US Senate Race 2008 | Comments Off

Larimer, Weld, Adams, Arapahoe and Denver

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Saturday, March 8th was a big day for Democrats in Colorado. Although I could not get to every county assembly/convention, we did make it to five of them. And the participation was in record numbers.

We started our day in Fort Collins at Fossil Ridge High School. This is the new “green” school, and it was easy to spot with the huge donkey set up outside. Larimer County attracted over 8,000 voters to their caucuses on Feb. 5, 2008. That meant that over 1,000 people were at the county meeting.

Adam Bowen, county chair, opened up the meeting with elected officials and candidates lined up behind him. Senator Bob Bacon was joined by his colleagues on the House side, Rep. John Kefalas and Rep. Randy Fischer. They all were scheduled to speak later in the morning.

Betsy Markey, who is running for U.S. House of Representatives in CD4, gave a great speech. The crowd may be coming out for Presidential candidates, but they are just as eager to send Marilyn Musgrave into retirement.

I then had my chance to speak to the spectacular and enthusiastic Larimer County Democrats. We are taking our country back, and Larimer County is playing its part.

We then traveled to Weld County. We arrived at Michener Library on the UNC campus to find that the Weld Democrats had moved to Heath Middle School. We walked in to find a gymnasium filled with about 1,000 voters.

Weld County is my home county, and we really carried the whole county for Governor Ritter by 100 votes. Rep. Jim Riesberg had a great re-election campaign, and over 2500 people turned out to caucus on February 5th.

I was so excited to be in Weld County and look out on the sea of faces participating in the county assembly/convention. County Chair David Delegado introduced me, and the audience responded. After my remarks it was great to stop and talk with many friends including Cheryl Hauger, Roy Waddell, Pam Shaddock and Chuck Olmstead.

Then we raced to Adams County. Over 1,000 people filled the Exhibit Hall at Adams County Fairgrounds. I arrived in time to hear Don Quick’s nomination for District Attorney. It gave me the opportunity to talk about the great job Don is doing in his Judicial District. Also I acknowledged the work of County Chair, Pat Moore.

Adams County had a caucus turnout of over 5,000 people. I had the opportunity to talk to the county delegates and encourage their continued participation in all of the campaigns. It was exciting once again to see so many new faces in the audience.

By this time we were running about an hour behind. However, we arrived at Arapahoe County’s meeting in time to hear the end of U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s speech.

I was pleased to be introduced by Harold Thyfault, a long-time Democratic activist. As I have done in every county, I asked how many were there for the first time. Almost every hand was raised. Arapahoe saw over 12,000 people on Feb. 5th and about 1800 attended the county meetings. Mike Hamrick, Arapahoe County Chair, did a great job and was ably assisted by Carolyn Boller.

My last stop was Denver County. Denver Chair, Jennifer Coken, sure had her hands full. I arrived in time to see the aftermath of voting in Senate District 35. Former City Councilwoman Joyce Foster and Rep. Alice Borodkin vied for support. Foster came out ahead, but the final votes will be counted in a multi-county meeting this coming weekend.

I was able to say just a few words as HD6 began its meeting. I also wandered into HD2, HD3, HD4 and HD5. It was great to see so many good Democrats from Denver County. Denver Dems turned out over 26,000 voters on Feb. 5th. The crowd on Saturday was about 5,000. Sherry Jackson and Billy Compton spent the day helping the county with its meetings.

On a last note, Don Wiegel, the staff person for the House Majority Project, is leaving this week. He will be really missed in this office. He has been a great partner and worked hard to recruit candidates for House seats. Don is off to manage a Congressional campaign in Alabama. We wish him well.

It promises to be another busy week. Wednesday I will be speaking at the Democratic Women of Boulder County’s luncheon. The next day I am speaking at a breakfast of the Board of Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. Saturday I plan to make the Boulder and Jefferson County assembly/conventions. And then there are all the thing in between.

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Posted in CDP, Congressional Races, Counties, Presidential Campaign 2008, State Legislative Races | Comments Off

Congratulations to Rep. Ferrandino and Rep. Cerbo

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

You will hear a lot of congratulations going around for the past and new HD2 representatives. I just wanted to add my own note of thanks.

Excuse me Mike, if I start with Mark. Soon after I was elected Chair, Sean O’Buckley decided to resign as the Colorado Democratic Party Treasurer. Mark Ferrandino immediately stepped forward. As an auditor, he brought much needed skills to the state party. As we began to embark on a 64-county strategy, we were also faced with some sticky issues from previous campaigns.

Mark brought his experience and expertise to bear on resolving those issues. He, along with Jamie Elkins our compliance officer, attended Federal Elections Commission training and put in place a stringent set of rules to not only resolve outstanding issues, but to prevent similar problems in the future. We have worked together daily on creating a healthy party structure, and I value his contributions. Given the commitment to excellence, the Colorado General Assembly gains an extremely valuable member.

And for Mike Cerbo, he is taking his extensive skills as a legislator and an organizer to the AFL-CIO. We look forward to working with him in his new role, especially in light of the Republican onslaught against our union brothers and sisters. Rep. Cerbo moves to AFL-CIO at a time when his leadership is most needed. Thank you for your public service.

I, for one, am excited that we have so many talented leaders in the Democratic party.

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Posted in 2007 Legislative Session, CDP, Counties, Elected, State Legislative Races | 1 Comment »

Congrats to Representative Ferrandino!

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

(Cross-Posted to DemNotes at www.DemNotes.com)

One of the best parts of being involved in this Party is seeing your friends — people who have worked hard in the trenches and who are genuinely good and decent people with their hearts in the right places — be elected to serve Colorado. I’m not talking about the folks out there who are campaigning hard and who you meet while they are campaigning, although there are some pretty amazing folks out there who fit that bill as well. No, I’m talking about the folks with whom you work in the trenches and who end up in positions to make a difference. For me, those people are folks like my State Representative, Buffie McFadyen, Rep. Morgan Carroll, and La Plata County Commissioner Joelle Riddle.

Last night, State Party Treasurer Mark Ferrandino joined that list when he was selected by the HD2 Vacancy Committee to serve in the State House.

Mark knows how to effectively fill a vacancy. In 2005, when we had a vacancy in the tough position of State Party Treasurer, Mark stepped forward and was selected to fill out the term. As a testament to his hard work and dedication, he was re-elected this year without any opposition. For a State Party officer, Mark is a quiet guy. He doesn’t demand attention. He just shows up and works hard.

I knew that from almost the first time I saw his work as Party Treasurer, but it was never made more clear to me than when I was walking for candidates last fall. As regular readers of DemNotes know, I spent about every weekend, and several weeknights, walking with Democratic candidates for the House and Senate across Colorado. Last fall, I showed up in a north metro parking lot to meet Sen. Lois Tochtrop to walk with her. Mark Ferrandino was there, too. We spent the morning knocking on doors together. I found out that he, too, spent about every possible spare moment walking with legislative candidates — unlike me, he just didn’t talk about it much. It was just something that a loyal Democrat does. I wrote about it then – you can see that post at:
http://demnotes.com/?p=190

Rep. Ferrandino deserves this selection — he is truly an unsung hero of the Colorado Democratic Party. I understand he will eventually be leaving his position as State Party Treasurer (he doesn’t have to immediately do that — it is not too uncommon for legislators around the country to serve double-duty as State Party officers). When he does leave, whoever is selected by the Central Committee to fill his position will have huge shoes to fill. But Rep. Ferrandino will continue to fight for the things that make this Party so important to the future of Colorado, and we’ll wish him well on this new chapter of his life.

Thank you, HD2 Vacancy Committee, for making such a wise choice. Rep. Ferrandino will serve you — and the people of Colorado — amazingly well!

Posted in 2007 Legislative Session, CDP, Elected, State Legislative Races | Comments Off

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