Senate Dems elect Guzman as leader

The Senate Democratic caucus voted unanimously on Wednesday to elect Sen. Lucia Guzman, D-Denver, as Senate minority leader, taking the place of Sen. Morgan Carroll, D-Aurora, who is stepping down from the leadership post while she runs for Congress.

“Making sure every Coloradan who works hard and plays by the rules has a fair shot at getting ahead is what myself and my Democratic colleagues are totally focused on,” Guzman said in a statement.

“Our state has seen an amazing economic recovery, but too many Coloradans aren’t earning a fair wage for a fair day’s work. We must do more to raise wages, help people get the training and education they need to get a good-paying job, get affordable health coverage, and save for retirement,” she said.

Guzman was appointed to her West Denver seat in May 2010 to fill a vacancy and was elected to a full, four-year term that fall. She was reelected last year. She served on the Senate Judiciary Committee and chaired the Legislative Audit Committee last year.

Carroll, who announced last week that she’s challenging four-term U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman for the Aurora-based 6th Congressional District seat, said she was thrilled to support Guzman as her successor.

.“Our fight to create a fair economy and hold our government accountable to that goal will continue under our new leadership, and I will continue to work closely with my constituents in making government work for them,” she said.

The other members of the Senate Democratic leadership team include Assistant Minority Leader Rollie Heath, D-Boulder; Minority Whip Matt Jones, D-Louisville; and Caucus Chair Jessie Ulibarri, D-Commerce City.

Bartels departs Post, goes to work for SOS

Veteran political reporter Lynn Bartels stunned Colorado politicos and journalists on Wednesday when she announced she would be leaving The Denver Post and would starting work as communications director for Secretary of State Wayne Williams.

Bartels has been a mainstay at state newspapers since 1993, when she began reporting at the Rocky Mountain News. The Post hired her in 2009 after the Rocky shut down. She has regularly earned praise as one of the top political reporters in the state.

“I am forever grateful that The Denver Post gave me a home when the Rocky closed,” Bartels said in a statement. “It’s hard to imagine a life outside of journalism but my dog is very happy that I’m going to give it a try. I am very excited for this new opportunity.”

In a letter to colleagues at The Post, Bartels said the decision to bid farewell to a nearly 35-year career in journalism “wasn’t easy,” and thanked her former cross-town rivals for welcoming her. “I appreciate your putting up with my many eccentricities: bloodcurdling screams when moths come near my desk, an almost pathological fear of driving in the snow or at night and turning in stories that say -ffect because I still can’t figure out when to use ‘affect’ or ‘effect,’” she wrote.

Bartels said she has been fond of Williams, a former El Paso County clerk, ever since he lent her $20 when she was covering the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., after she had left her billfold at the hotel. “By the way,” she noted, “I paid it back.”