By TCS Publisher and Editor in Chief Jared Wright _@JaredWright_

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

DENVER – Happy Wednesday, and good luck to you for the rest of your week. We are a mere three days away from the Nevada Caucuses, when we will be given a taste of how these presidential candidates perform in a Western state. We really have no sense going into Nevada what will happen due to only six public polls being conducted in the state over the last year. This compared to New Hampshire residents being polled nearly 50 times — enough to make you want to disconnect your phone.

Washington Republicans will also hold their caucus Saturday, but only to select delegates to go on to legislative district and county conventions. Washington holds its presidential primary on May 24.

Of course, South Carolina’s primary is also Saturday, where Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton continue to maintain big leads. South Carolina’s results may very well cull the Republican heard even more this weekend, with the most likely drop out coming up next from Ben Carson.

Now your substrata feed straight from the politics pipeline:

State Senate Pres. showing symptoms of Lameduckitis? — Yesterday, Senate President Bill Cadman, a Republican lawmaker serving his 16th and last year in the legislature this year provided the easily excitable media with some caffeine during a morning news conference. Cadman responded to the media’s question of the week — What about Scalia’s replacement? His answer quickly went viral. “Both sides have a job to do, so I think the political posturing right now is somewhat unfortunate,” he said. “This is actually the time when the Republican Senate would have an influence on a Democratic presidential nominee.”

Right on, Bill, telling it like it is, being a maverick …

Above, Sen. Bill Cadman outside the state Capitol building giving his morning news conference.

But wait … Cadman later clarified his earlier statement, saying he was not aligning himself with the Democrat’s position on the Scalia replacement issue, in what he at least felt had been a misinterpretation of his comments by Denver Post reporter John Frank who first broke the story. “If a majority of Senators choose to reject a nominee, or delay confirmation until after President Obama leaves office, they are perfectly within their rights, in my opinion, and doing the ‘job’ the Constitution assigns them, Cadman said.”

Above, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thanking state Sen. Bill Cadman for making his clarifying statement.

Humor people, it’s called humor …

Read the full story by John Tomasic in The Colorado Statesman here.

Everything else you need to know to get you up to speed on the SCOTUS nominee battle here and here, including a rising tide of concern over why an autopsy was not performed on Scalia’s body.

Doug Lamborn is in it to win it again — Perennial Republican primary victor and U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn said in a statement released this morning that he will seek re-election to the 5th Congressional District. Lamborn is in his fifth term as representative for the 5th District in Colorado Springs.

“From voting to repeal Obamacare and de-fund Planned Parenthood, to fighting hard and making the tough budgetary decisions needed to fund our military in the face of Barack Obama’s draconian defense cuts, and to always voting to keep our taxes low, I have stood up for the people of the Fifth Congressional District every step of the way,” said Lamborn.

Cash on hand – $225,000

Lamborn’s full statement: 

“Ronald Reagan is my political hero. At a recent event commemorating his 105th birthday, I reflected on what an honor it is to carry forward the conservative values and principles of the Reagan revolution into the 21st Century. No matter what pressures come from big government liberals, I will always stand up and fight for traditional values, lower taxes, smaller government, and a strong national defense.

From voting to repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood, to fighting hard and making the tough budgetary decisions needed to fund our military in the face of Barack Obama’s draconian defense cuts, and to always voting to keep our taxes low, I have stood up for the people of the Fifth Congressional District every step of the way.

I will continue to work hard in my leadership positions on the Natural Resources, Armed Services, and Veterans Affairs Committees to support our veterans, our active duty men and women in uniform, and for a brighter and more prosperous economic future for our Colorado and our country.

I humbly ask for the continued support of the voters of the Fifth Congressional District. It is through this support that I have repeatedly been elected to Congress and have roughly $225,000 cash on hand for my re-election campaign.  It is an honor and a privilege to be your Representative in Washington DC.

— Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO-05)”Morrissey makes his move — Incumbent Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey announced his endorsement of one of two current DA employees running to replace him yesterday, giving props to current Senior Deputy District Attorney Kenneth Boyd. There are four candidates running for Denver DA currently, including CU Regent and former Denver Deputy District Attorney Michael Carrigan, current state Rep. and former Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Beth McCann, and current Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Helen Morgan. Whether Morgan, a registered independent who has worked in the Denver DA’s office for more than 21 years, sees this as a slap in the face from her boss or not, we do not know at this time. But, if you’re not going to stay out of it, you have to pick somebody right?

Boyd is the nephew of former Denver DA and Colorado Governor Bill Ritter.

The continuing battle for Middle Earth, Senate District 19 — Incumbent state Sen. Laura Woods is taking her campaign very seriously, even in the middle of a busy legislative session, out knocking on doors in her district. Clearly, she understands how competitive her seat is, and the very real possibility it could flip the control of the 18-17 Senate next session.

Woods is facing a general election challenge from former Sen. Rachel Zenzinger, a Democrat who formerly held the seat for one year (2014) after being appointed by vacancy committee following the resignation of Evie Hudak.

Finance report: In her Jan. 15 campaign finance filing, Woods reported raising $18,542.00 in Q4 with a beginning balance of $43,948.54. She currently has $61,116.96 cash on hand.

Zenzinger raised $37,301.71 in the 4th Quarter of 2015. She filed her candidate affidavit on August 14, 2015. She has a cash on hand balance of $36,137.23.

Senate District 19 breakdown: As of January, the district voter registration breakdown for SD-19 is the following:

Active registered voters: 27,526 Democrats, 28,436 Republicans, 32,659 UnaffiliatedInactive registered voters: 4,275 Democrats, 3,633 Republicans, 6,549 Unaffiliated

Most recent presidential polling — People are scared:

The nation:

Suffolk University/USA Today: Negative response based —

People scared by Trump GOP nomination — 38% of likely voters, 62% of Democrats, 17% of Republicans and 33% of Independents

People scared by Clinton Democratic nomination — 33% of likely voters, 60% of Republicans, 8% of Democrats and 35% of Independents.

People scared by Sanders Democratic nomination — 45% of Republicans, 28% of Independents and 12% of Democrats.

South Carolina:

ARG poll released yesterday (400 likely GOP South Carolina primary voters) — Trump 33%, Rubio 16%, Cruz 14%, Kasich 14%, Bush 9%, Carson 3%, Undecided 8%

CNN polling the Democrats — Clinton leads Sanders 56-38%

Benjamin Lyng CORRECTION — Yesterday, I reported that GOP Senate District 4 candidate Benjamin Lyng was holding a fundraiser in Greenwood Village hosted by a committee of four people who do not live in the senate district. This was inaccurate. In fact, one out of the four member host committee lives in Senate District 4. Ted Engel (Dr. Bernard Edward Engel, a local MD), does, in fact, live in Castle Rock, within the Senate District 4 boundaries. I apologize for the error. Lyng has come under fire for his recent move into Senate District 4 from his Cheeseman Park home in downtown Denver, having purchased a home in Castle Pines in October and then filing his candidacy on January 11. Lyng is facing a backlash from some in the district who feel he cannot properly represent their communities, since he has only lived there for a short period of time. The term “Bagger Ben” has been going around amongst those chapfallen folks, indicating he is a political carpetbagger, a reference we referred to about a month ago in our Chatter column. Several sources claim Lyng has had his eye on elected office for some time, selecting to run for this particular open senate seat (incumbent Sen. Mark Scheffel is term limited) because of its high Republican voter registration performance and strong potential he wins the election if he can convince enough Republican assembly-goers to vote for him. Some of Lyng’s supporters come to his defense, claiming he chose to move into the district to get out of the city and raise his family in the suburban Douglas County area. Their defense suggests Lyng’s filing to run for office now is just a coincidental sort of, ‘hey why not’ …

Three other candidates are seeking the office — all Republican — Jess Loban, Meghann Silverthorn and James Smallwood. Actually …

BREAKING: New candidate files for SD-4 — Make that four other Republican candidates. Lyng may now have some carpetbagger cover with the arrival of a new candidate (assuming it’s a legitimate filing), massage therapist Shawnda Dupree. With a registered Grand Junction mailing address and an Austin, Texas area code, Dupree has officially jumped into the race, filing her papers with the secretary of state’s office yesterday.

Dupree is somewhat of a mystery candidate at this point. Rest assured, we will continue to monitor the SD-4 race and keep you posted.

Events:

Colorado Agricultural Leadership Program, Governor’s Forum on Colorado Agriculture Reception — Tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 17 at the Governor’s Mansion from 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

Colorado Beverage Association, Legislative Reception — Tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 17, at the University Club, 17th and Sherman, 5:30 – 7:30 pm.

Colorado Nonprofit Association, Annual Meeting and 30th Birthday Reception — Thurs. Feb. 18, Kevin Taylor at the Opera House, 1345 Champa St. Denver, 5:30 pm

Adams State University Reception — Thurs. Feb. 18, Warwick Hotel, 5:30 – 7:30 pm

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

Nevada Caucuses — Saturday, February 20

Washington Republican Caucuses — Saturday, February 20

Annual Conservation Community Legislative Reception — University Club

Secretary Ken Salazar for Jeff Bridges Endorsement Event — Home of Rutt and Annie Bridges, 9694 E Progress Place, Greenwood Village, Wed. Feb. 24, 5:30 – 7:30 pm

Super Tuesday, including Colorado caucuses — March 1

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

Want your event listed? Just let me know.

Birthdays:

Happy Birthday wishes to: State Sen. Owen Hill, House Assistant Majority Leader Dominick Moreno, and former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. And … a Happy Belated Birthday to UYYour.S. Rep. Ken Buck, who celebrated yesterday.

From the wires:

The Gazette’s Meghan Schrader reports on Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers being at odds with county commissioners across Colorado over Sen. Cheri Jahn’s  bill, SB100, a bill that has pitted Colorado Counties Incorporated against the Colorado Municipal League (who no-doubt instigated the legislation) over transportation mill levy funding.

Roll Call’s Simone Patheé reports on 30 House GOP freshmen members of Congress calling on GOP presidential candidates to focus on the debt.The Denver Post has a report on Chelsea Clinton’s campaign events in Denver and Boulder this week.

A report from KRDO reports that a judge has ruled that details of the Planned Parenthood shooting should stay sealed.

The Boulder Daily Camera’s Sarah Kuta reports on Edward Snowden’s video chat last night at CU-Boulder

Read a Denver Post editorial that says Sen. Pat Steadman’s sentencing bill, SB-98, goes too far.

9News reports the teen charged with murdering Mesa County Sheriff Deputy Derek Geer will be charged as an adult.

Colorado Capitol Watch —From our bill tracking partners:

House Bill Wrap-Up: Today 

Senate Bill Wrap-Up: Today

Bills Passed 3rd Reading: Today

FOUR New Bills: Today

394 All Bills:  As of 2/16

178 Bipartisan Bills:  As of 2/16

Audio Update: Today

2/17: Bills on calendar in order

2/17: Bills on calendar sortable 

All: Upcoming Bills From Today

House and Senate Calendars:

HOUSE – Your Feb. 17 Calendar here 

SENATE – Your Feb. 17 Calendar here 

You’re up to date. Have a great hump day! 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