By TCS Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Jared Wright @_JaredWright_

Thursday, February 11, 2016

DENVER – Happy Thursday — pace yourself, just one more day until the weekend (if you’re like me, you ask, “What weekend?” — ’tis the business) …

Now, your substrata feed straight from the politics pipeline:

It’s official … [less is more?] — There are officially more candidates seeking the nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet this election this year than there are GOP candidates for President of the United States. 10 — 7. Believe it or not, it’s true. I say time for more cage-match debate opportunities = candidate gaff opportunities = narrowing the field. What? … Well, that’s how it works, isn’t it?  … Speaking of which, the first candidate forum is tonight, hosted by the Colorado GOP. (See below in events for more information.)

Who’s running (cash on hand filed with FEC)?

Robert Blaha — (no report to date)Charles Ehler — (no report to date)Ryan Frazier — ($182,698 COH)Darryl Glenn — ($14,500 COH)Jack Graham — (no report to date)Jon Keyser — (no report to date)Michael Kinlaw — (no report to date)Peg Littleton — (no report to date)Tim Neville — ($61,345 COH)Donald Rosier — ($1,592 COH)

In case you were under total power outage all day yesterday or are vacationing in the Cook Islands or something …

Christie calls it quits — Yesterday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced he was exiting the presidential race “without an ounce of regret.”

Fiorina out — The same day, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced she too was leaving the Republican race for the White House, stating she would “continue to travel this country and fight for Americans who refuse to settle for the way things are and a status quo that no longer works for them.”

“We’ve had how many —  8 debates? In 7.95 of those debates, I did very well.”— Sen. Marco Rubio, quoted by Politico

Yesterday, another politically charged (election year) day at the Capitol — House and Senate Democrats continue to hammer away at base-shoring populist issues like … affordable housing, yesterday in the form of Sen. John Kefalas’s bill, SB-57, which would have added powers to the division of housing to “safeguard and promote the mutual interests of landowners and homeowners.” The bill also would have created a dispute resolution process for landlords and home owners. Democrats pointed out mobile homes are an important part of affordable housing in the state. The bill was killed in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on a party line vote, 3-2.

Another high-political-octane Republican bill killed … in the Republican Senate yesterday — Sen. Ellen Roberts joined with Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to kill SB-64, a bill sponsored by Sen. Kevin Lundberg that would have lowered the number of jurors required for a death penalty verdict from a unanimous 12 to 9.

Draft debate creates odd-couple Colorado pairing in quest to shore up female vote — U.S. Reps. Mike Coffman (CD-6) and Jared Polis (CD-2) are on a crusade along with U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio to abolish the military draft, introducing a bill, H.R. 4523, yesterday to do just that.

This, in the midst of a somewhat bogus national political debate — in which presidential candidates have engaged in recently — over whether women should be able to be drafted for military service under the law. The source of the controversy? — a recent appearance by top Army and Marine Corps. commanders in front of theSenate Armed Services Committee where they told committee members eligible women should be required to sign up for the draft. And …

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) introduced the Draft America’s Daughters Act, H.R. 4478, on Feb. 4 this year, which would amend the Military Selective Service Act to extend registration requirements to women between the ages of 18 and 26.

National polling has shown most women are against the idea of draft eligibility.

Meanwhile, a bill by U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), H.R. 1509, to require the reinstatement of the draft whenever an authorization on the use of military force or declaration of war is in effect, has been sitting in the Subcommittee on Military Personnel since Aug. 2015.

Will Klingenschmitt pass a bill (his first ever) — will this be the year? —Another odd-couple pairing with Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt and Rep. Beth McCann in the form of a bill, HB-1137, up today for a hearing in the House Health, Insurance and Environment committee at 1:30 pm (McCann is not a co-prime sponsor, but is a co-sponsor on the bill.) The bill seeks to require warning labels on nicotine products, addressing a problem with some companies — those producing vapors, for one — that display misleading advertising on product packaging, claiming they contain no nicotine when, in fact, they do. Klingenschmitt believes it will be his first bill ever to get Democrat votes and perhaps even pass. “Never happened before, but it looks promising,” he said.

Hancock posts new public health director — Denver Mayor Michael Hancock named Denver Director of Public Health Inspections, Bob McDonald, as his new interim public health director Wednesday.

Events:

Democratic Presidential Debate Watch Party  — Thursday, February 11, 2016, 6:00 pm, Capitol Cigars, 919 E Colfax Ave, Denver. Co-hosted by Colorado Young Dems, Capitol Cigars and The Colorado Statesman.

Colorado Republican Senate Candidate Forum — Tonight, February 11, 2016 at 6:00 pm at the Reiman Theater, Margery Reed Building, University of Denver, 2306 E. Evans Ave. Denver, CO 80210 — confirmed in attendance, Robert Blaha, Charlie Ehler, Ryan Frazier, Darryl Glenn, Peg Littleton, Jon Keyser and Tim NevilleColorado Democrat’s Jefferson Jackson … I mean 83rd Annual Dinner — Saturday, February 13, 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm MST, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel, 1550 Court Pl, Denver. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are both speaking at the event.

Town Hall Meeting with Rep. Dan Kagan and Sen. Linda Newell — Saturday, Feb. 13, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm,  6060 S Quebec St, Greenwood Village.

Jefferson County Republican Men’s Club Breakfast — Monday, February 15, 7:00 am to 9:00 am, Davies Chuck Wagon Diner, 10151 W 26th Ave, Wheat Ridge: Tom Tancredo will be presenting on “Why he is no longer a Republican.”

South Carolina Primary — Democrats: Saturday, Feb. 20; Republicans, Tuesday, Feb. 23.

Agriculture Day at the Capitol — Set for Tuesdays, March 16 — get ready for awesome food and great folks to descend upon the Capitol.

A happy belated birthday to Rep. Beth McCann who celebrated her birthday yesterday. We hope it was a good one, Representative!

A CBS4 investigation reports on a senior Denver assistant city attorney, Stuart Shapiro, who has been paid more than $213,000 during a 19 month paid leave.

ColoradoWatchdog.org’s Arthur Kane reports on 1/3 of Colorado lawmakers reporting their profession as legislators. Sheesh — yeah, because lets all put our 4 part-time jobs as burger flippers and video game store clerks back home in the district down as our primary profession.

Roll Call’s Stephanie Akin reports on an internet server outage in the U.S. House Tuesday causing thousands of emails to go unseen by members and their staffers.

The Hill’s Niali Stanage reports on the GOP establishment’s continuing to grapple with accelerating candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.

The Denver Post reports on drug overdoses being on the rise in southern Colorado (via Gazette)

The Colorado Statesman’s Ramsey Scott reports on Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt taking another religious stand.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel’s Charles Ashby reports on Capitol bill topics this session including student loans, death penalties and voter rights.

The Glenwood Post Independent’s John Stoud reports on the BLM’s moving toward cancelling 25 undeveloped oil and gas leases on the Thompson Divide altogether. 

Colorado Capitol Watch — From our bill tracking partner at Colorado Capitol Watch:

House Bill Wrap-Up: Today (2/11)

Senate Bill Wrap-Up:  Today (2/11)

Bills Passed 3rd Reading: Today (2/11)

(House & Senate Bill Wrap-Up Links will update for 24 hours.)

5 New Bills:  2016 2/10  

All Bills:  385 as of 2/10 

Bipartisan Bills:  164 as of 2/10 

Audio Update: This Week, Today

(Link to Audio will show up after login)

2/11 Third Reading of Bills

2/11 Calendar & Upcoming Bills

 All Upcoming Bills From Today Forward

House and Senate Calendars:

HOUSE – Your Feb. 11 Calendar here 

SENATE – Your Feb. 11 Calendar here 

You’re up to date. Have a great Thursday and enjoy the sunshine! Until tomorrow …

Tell us what you know! – To submit a tip, event, happening, gossuping, chattering or other interesting tidbit to The Hot Sheet, click here to submit via our contact form … yes, even anonymously if you’re feeling all cloak and dagger.

JW