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

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

DENVER – Happy Wednesday from all of us here at The Colorado Statesman. Here’s to a smooth initial approach into the weekend. May your landing have very little turbulence.

“Winning, winning, winning!” — Donald Trump (and I think also, Charlie Sheen)

Now your substrata feed straight from the politics pipeline:

Trump wins small in Vegas — NEVADA — In the fourth delegate selection contest, and after a painfully drawn out caucus — the most disorganized to date (we can do so much better, Colorado — let’s please do) — Donald Trump was called the victor in the Silver State just after 10:00 pm MST. With a proportionate allocation of delegates to any candidate scoring over 3.33%, this was not a huge sweep for Trump. CNN: “big win.” Not so much, CNN, but a win nonetheless. This morning with 100 percent of the caucus locations reporting, here’s the breakdown:

Trump: 45.91%, taking 14 delegatesRubio: 23.85%, taking 7 delegatesCruz: 21.38%, taking 6 delegatesCarson: 4.81%, taking 1 delegateKasich: 3.6%, taking 1 delegateOthers: 0.45%

Trump’s full victory speech here.

Rubio’s full establishment victory speech here … had gone to bed, forewent Nevada caucus speech.

They done felt the Bern — In news we first broke and In a show of solemn communion, state Sen. Mike Merrifield, state Reps. Joe Salazar and Jonathan Singer and former House Speaker Terrance Carroll bound themselves and their Berns together in a show of force on the Capitol steps yesterday.

Terrance Carroll said in his remarks, “I woke up with a Bern.”

(Photo by Ernest Luning/The Colorado Statesman)

State Sen. Owen Hill tweeted a reply to the photo above posted by The Statesman’s Ernest Luning. Hill’s tweet: “#feelthebern? or #feelthebald” Fair question.

Hill has now endorsed Marco Rubio for President — Hill told The Statesman, “I co-chaired Colorado for Rand Paul because I loved his optimism about liberty. With Rand out of the race, Marco is the only one that fights as a cheerful warrior for free people ruling themselves.”

Hill said he thought that of the remaining candidates, Rubio had the best chance of bringing people within the party together to face either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in the general election.

Sullivan follows through with announcement for SD-27 — Air Force Veteran and retired United States postal worker and AFL-CIO executive board member Tom Sullivan formally announced his candidacy yesterday at Silo Park in Greenwood Village. We were the first to break the news on Sullivan’s plans. Sullivan is perhaps best known as the father of Alex Sullivan who was murdered in the Aurora theater shooting. Sullivan released this video after his announcement: https://youtu.be/mpx_VUMrL9A

Read the full story here.

Permit-less Concealed Carry moves forward with fanfare towards its certain death — SB-17, state Sen. Tim Neville’s permit-less concealed carry firearm bill passed the full Republican majority Senate yesterday on third reading on a party line vote, 18-17, with even the more moderate (some would say thoughtful realists) Senators like Sens. Ellen Roberts and Larry Crowder, perhaps hesitating to cast themselves as anti-gun among the state’s powerful gun lobby (Dudley Brown’s War). There are no surprises in store for the bill. It was immediately assigned by SpeakerDickey Lee Hullinghorst to the Democratically controlled House kill committee, State, Veterans and Military Affairs where members will hear (hours of) testimony and then swiftly kill the fledgling bill.

Full story here.

Right to work, same path —SB 70, another Sen. Neville bill. Republicans fixed it after Sen. Jessie Ulibarri had his way with it, and proceeded to pass it. It will now die in the House. Divided government folks. Sausage not being made on the statement bills while the lobby navigates the important (boring) stuff right through to the governor’s desk.

Full story here.

President Bloomberg? What ever happened to the plotting and scheming? — Michael Bloomberg hasn’t gone anywhere. In fact, he’s reportedly still waiting in the wings for a Trump-Sanders general election. Many calculate his chances at fair-to-good if he ran as a third party “moderate” in such a race. Future: “Michael Bloomberg’s path to the presidency in 2016 marked a strange climax to an insane election year. It wouldn’t have been possible without both political parties falling prey to deeply unpresidential nominees. By the time Bloomberg prevailed last month in a nail-biting test of arcane provisions in the U.S. Constitution, 2016 had taken its place with the elections of 1800, 1824, and 1876 as the only presidential contests in American history resolved by the House of Representatives …” — Jonathan Alter for The Daily Beast

Full story here.

Politico Playbook’s Mike Allen speculates on an “establishment figure” running as a “third-party conservative — a prospect now more likely than Trump bolting the GOP for an independent run.”

So who knows, maybe we have two third party candidates — Bloomberg and a mystery conservative —preparing runs while the Trump-Rubio-Cruz cage matches and Hillary-Sanders duels drone on well into the conventions?

“It’s a combination of life being unpredictable, and you being super dumb.” — Aaron Sorkin

Diversions:

Best political jokes of the week from HuffPost Comedy

Birthdays:

Colorado Ski Country USA Public Affairs Manager Patrick Byrne celebrates his birthday today. Happy Birthday, Patrick!Events:

Colorado Pharmacy Day at the Capitol — Lunch and Learn, Wed., Feb. 24, State Capitol, room LSB-B. Legislative Reception, Feb. 24, University Club, 5:30 – 7:30 pm

The Coalition for an Inclusive Colorado Sandpiper Awards — Recognizing former Gov. Ralph Carr and Gov. John Hickenlooper, Wed., Feb. 24, Ralph Carr Colorado Judicial Center, 2 E 14th Ave, Denver, CO, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

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

State Treasurer Walker Stapleton to speak at Opportunity Coalition — Thurs., Feb. 25, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm, The Innovation Pavilion, 9200 E Mineral Ave, Centennial. Click here to RSVP

Nancy Doty Media Night Fundraiser — Senate District 26 Candidate Nancy Doty, featuring Dan Caplis, Randy Corporon, Krista Kafer, Steve Kelley, Jimmy Sengenberger and Craig Silverman, Thurs., Feb. 25, Glenmoor Country Club, 10 Glenmoor Dr, Englewood, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

South Carolina Democratic Primary — Saturday, Feb. 27.

Walk with Rhonda — Rhonda Fields for Senate District 29 neighborhood canvassing, Sat., Feb. 27, Tailyn’s Reach Library, 23911 E Arapahoe Rd., 11:00 am – 3:00 pm

Tim Neville for Senate Volunteer Call Day — Sat., Feb. 27, 7991 Shaffer Pkwy, Littleton, 10:00 am

Angela Williams Caucus Breakfast — Sat., Feb. 27, Coffee at the Point, 710 E 26th Ave, Denver, 9:00 am, please RSVP at your earliest convenience to Campaign Manager, Nate Salzman, at Nate@Angela4colo.com.

LGBT Lobby Day — Mon., Feb. 29, Central Presbyterian Church, 1660 Sherman St, Denver, 8:30 am – 2:00 pm, Sign up here: bit.ly/2016LobbyDay

Super Tuesday — Alabama, Alaska Caucus (R), American Samoa Caucus (D), Arkansas, Colorado caucuses, Democrats Abroad, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota Caucus (R), Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Wyoming Caucus (R) — March 1

Denver County GOP Friday Breakfast with Senate Candidates — Ryan Frazier, Darryl Glenn and Tim Neville are all confirmed to speak at the breakfast — March 4, 7:00 am, Pete’s Greektown Cafe, 2910 E Colfax Ave

Millennial Freedom Forum — Sunday, Mar. 6, Cherry Creek Country Club, 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm, RSVP at millenialfreedomforum.org

Golden View Classical Academy Sentinel Soiree — Sat., Mar. 12, Golden View Classical Academy, 601 Corporate Circle, Golden, 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm, best Colorado cocktail attire, RSVP to Hillary@WestBrookGroup.com

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

Colorado Young Democrats 2016 Legislative Showdown — Wed., Mar. 16, The 1up, 717 E Colfax Ave, Denver, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm. Please join Sen. Ulibarri, Rep. Garnett, Rep. Melton, Rep. Moreno, and other legislators for one of our signature annual events.

17th Annual Icon Awards Gala — Fri., Mar. 18, Grand Hyatt Denver Downtown, 6:00 pm, Ticket includes appetizers, seated dinner, open bar, fabulous entertainment and dancing! Voted year after year as the best party in Denver! Tickets available at: http://bit.ly/1PN5Jj3

Rosting Mike Rosen — Sat. Mar. 19, Denver Marriot Tech Center, 4900 S Syracuse St, Denver, 5:30 pm – 11:00 pm, www.taps.org/classic

2nd Annual Westminster Chamber Awards Gala — Fri., Apr. 29, Westminster Chamber of Commerce, Denver Marriott Westminster, 6:00 pm – 11:00 pm. Join us for our 2nd Annual Awards Gala on April 29th at the Denver Marriott Westminster. Awards will be given to area business in different categories. Food, Music and a Silent Auction will be part of this years event. There will be a 1 hour preview for VIP members and higher from 5-6pm and doors open to the public at 6pm. Purchase your ticket early and save $5 per ticket.

Want your event listed? Just let me know.

From the wires:

Denver Post’s Aldo Svaldi reports on Denver’s double digit home price gains at the end of 2015

Denver Post’s Tamara Chuang reports on Colorado’s ‘Amazon Tax’ law being upheld in federal appeals court

Steamboat Today’s John F. Russell reports on an effort by WildEarth Guardians to sue Peabody Energy, making sure the company has the money to clean up its mining sites prior to possible bankruptcy

Colorado Springs Gazette’s Megan Schrader reports on Colorado lawmakers blasting President Obama’s Guantanamo plan

Denver Post’s Joey Bunch reports on some of the families of Columbine, Aurora and Sandy Hook victims endorsing Clinton

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel’s Charles Ashby reports on Rep. Mike Foote’s HB 1063 school threat bill passing the House yesterday

Durango Herald’s Peter Marcus reports on a ballot proposal that would make changing Colorado’s Constitution more difficult

The Denver Business Journal’s Monica Mendoza reports on a sharp shift in Colorado union membership numbers

Roll Call’s Niels Lesniewski and Bridget Bowman report on Republican Senators standing ready to fight Obama to the end on a Supreme Court nominee

Reuters reports on Syrian opposition being yet to agree on a U.S.-Russia plan to halt fighting

Colorado Capitol Watch —From our bill tracking partners:

NO New Bills!!

All Bills: 421 as of 2/23   

All Bipartisan Bills: 191 as of 2/23

All PI Bills: 44 as of 2/23   

House Wrap-Up: Today  

Senate Wrap-Up: Today 

Audio Update: Today 

– Calendars –

 2/24 Bills in order of appearance  

  2/24 Bills sortable by time, number, etc. 

All Upcoming Bills From Today Forward

House and Senate Calendars:

HOUSE – Your Feb. 24 Calendar here 

SENATE – Your Feb. 24 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