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

Thursday, February 25, 2016

DENVER – Good morning from all of us here at The Colorado Statesman. Here’s to a productive Thursday for you.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to condemn a person because he doesn’t do what you do, or think as you think. There was a time when you didn’t know what you know today.” — Malcolm X

Now your substrata feed straight from the politics pipeline:

SCOTUS appointment may hail from a Western state — Republican Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval is reportedly being considered by President Obama to fill the Scalia vacancy. Sandoval is a well-known centrist former federal judge. Regardless of Obama’s play to pick a member of the GOP for the bench, Republican U.S. Senate leaders have insisted that the president’s nomination of a Republican would make no difference in their efforts to block a nominee, which they have vowed to do until a new president takes office in 2017.

Full report in the Washington Post here.

Two-for: Mitt Romney AND Karl Rove attack (read: grasp at straws) Donald Trump — did Donald pay them to do this?! — In a Republican presidential battle that is increasingly proving the majority of GOP caucus-goers and primary voters this year are angry, anti-establishment types, you would think names like twice former presidential candidate (and once establishment pick) Mitt Romney and GOP mastermind-turned-Trump-attack-dog Karl Rove would only stir the rattlesnakes’ nest for these malcontents, fueling their desires to turn out and vote FOR The Donald, right? Interesting calculations by Romney and Rove yesterday, each of whom went after the billionaire business mogul.

Romney threw his punch on Fox News yesterday, telling Neil Cavuto in a phone interview that “Frankly, I think we have a good reason to believe that there’s a bombshell in Donald Trump’s taxes.” Watch the full interview below: “I think there’s something there. Either he’s not anywhere near as wealthy as he says he is or he hasn’t been paying the kind of taxes we would expect him to pay, or perhaps he hasn’t been giving money to the vets or to the disabled like he’s been telling us he’s doing,” Romney said.

Rove lobbed his missile in an op ed in the Wall Street Journal in which he first recollected Trumps “impressive” victories and then proceeded to warn the Wall Street establishment — the majority of whom are filling Rubio coffers now — that there’s only a short period of time left — through mid-March — to topple the rising Trump nomination tower.

Really, really odd move — I dare say a miscalculated one — by these two. That is, if their goal is actually to take down the increasingly likely GOP nominee. This is nothing more than fuel on the angry voter fire that will likely benefit Trump even more. Of course, Rove, the “boy genius,” and Romney, the “twice-failed,” have done nothing but make miscalculations for the last 8 years.

Trumps responses:

“Mitt Romney, who totally blew an election that should have been won and whose tax returns made him look like a fool, is now playing tough guy.” “In all of television- the only one who said anything bad about last nights landslide victory– was dopy Karl Rove. He should be fired!” Cruz and Rubio vow to stop Trump — At a Fox forum last night, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio promised to stop Trump while both John Kasich and Ben Carson vowed they will stay in the race. More here.

Another tragic, Colorado officer shooting with political connections — The alleged shooter who killed one sheriffs deputy and wounded two others in Park County yesterday while they tried to serve him with an eviction from his Bailey residence, was a former Green Party candidate and Occupy Denver activist, Martin Wirth. Wirth ran against Sen. Kevin Grantham in 2014 as a Green Party candidate. His committee name was, “The Unlikely Election of Wirth.” Wirth took 25% of the vote in that race.

Source: Colorado Secretary of State

Wirth, who was an outspoken anti-bank, anti-foreclosure activist, was shot and killed in the exchange of gunfire yesterday.

Wirth appears in a YouTube video discussing “illegal” foreclosures

Wirth’s most recent Facebook post

Tragically, Cpl. Nate Carrigan, a 13 year veteran of the Park County Sheriff’s Office, was killed in the shooting, and two other deputies were wounded.

Read a full story in the Denver Post here 

Election year politics defeats right-to-die legislation —Reps. Lois Court and Joann Ginal’s right-to-die bill, HB-1054, failed to gather enough votes — specifically from the Democrat majority in the House, and was killed by the sponsors on the House floor during second-reading.

Court said to those legislators not wanting to vote for the bill, “… We are doing you this favor, to not have this debate, but make no mistake, the voice of the people of this state will be heard. You will hear from your constituents one way or another.”

Court delivers her remarks of frustration prior to killing HB-1054 yesterday

Several sources said some legislators were against casting a vote for such a lightning-rod bill in an election year.

Read John Tomasic’s full coverage and see the video of Court’s remarks here.

Rio Blanco County Commissioners taking stand against Wayne Williams’s statewide voting system compliance changes — The Rio Blanco County Commissioners aren’t too pleased with Secretary of State Wayne Williams at this very moment in time. In an “open letter to the public,” all three Rio Blanco County Commissioners, Jon Hill, Shawn Bolton and Jeffrey Eskelson, said that “We should learn from the federal government that local decisions should be made by local government.” The rural county commissioners are opposing Williams’s efforts to bring Colorado voting systems into compliance with a 2009 law by requiring all counties — even the small ones like Rio Blanco — to purchase and upkeep a single elections system vendor chosen by the Pilot Election Review Committee process.

“Secretary of State Williams is forcing smaller counties to purchase the same system that Denver County or El Paso County purchases. These counties have a much larger budget and need a more robust system. However, even larger counties are at a disadvantage because they lose their ability to review multiple companies and make the best decision for their county. Giving one vendor a monopoly on the entire state can’t be a good idea,” the commissioners wrote.

Read the full letter here.

An unlikely place for the name Marc Holtzman to appear — In a New York Times article about Bernie Sanders. The article was written about Sanders’ Jewish ethnicity, and the fact that he doesn’t like to talk about it …

… Jewish voters, consequently, may now feel less obligation to support a fellow Jew, another possible reason for the muted excitement about Mr. Sanders. Kevin Greenberg, 52, a native of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., said much had changed since he was a young man in 1986 and was told by a family friend to vote for Marc Holtzman, a Republican running for Congress in Pennsylvania, “because he was Jewish.”

“Thinking isn’t agreeing or disagreeing. That’s voting” — Robert Frost

Birthdays:

State Rep. Dan Kagan celebrates his birthday today. Happy Birthday, Dan!

Jennifer Corrigan, government affairs director for the Colorado Childrens Campaign, Cassidee Shull, executive director at Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology and Nate Salzman, campaign manager for Angela Williams for State Senate also celebrate their birthdays today. Happy Birthday to each of you!Events:

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 Glen 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 catagories. 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 Business Journal’s Ed Sealover reports on Rep. Mike Foote’s bill to crack down on Colorado businesses use of offshore tax havens

CPR’s Rachel Estabrook reports on how Koch Brothers’ Americans For Prosperity aims to shape Colorado politics

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel’s Charles Ashby reports on the bi-partisan package of bills on workforce development unveiled yesterday

Denver Post’s Joey Bunch reports on the Bailey shooting and its political connections

Denver Post’s Tom McGhee reports on the House Local Government committee’s 6-5 vote yesterday to kill the “Homeless Persons’ Bill of Rights, HB 1191

Durango Herald’s Peter Marcus reports on the death of Rep. Perry Buck’s HB 1181, which would have required compensation for fracking bans.

Denver Post’s Mark Matthews reports on Sen. Cory Gardner’s plan to visit Gitmo in the coming days

Denver Post’s Elizabeth Hernandez and John Frank report on Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sander’s battle ahead of the Colorado caucus vote.

KDVR reports on Rep. Steve Lebsock’s red light camera bill getting the green light

Colorado Capitol Watch —From our bill tracking partners:

8 New Biils: Today

6 New Bipartisan Bills: Today

All Bills: 429 as of 2/24    

All Bipartisan Bills: 202 as of 2/24 (Adjusted)

All PI Bills: 56 as of 2/24 (12 new)    

House Wrap-Up: Today  

Senate Wrap-Up: Today 

Audio Update: Today 

– Calendars –

 2/25 House and Senate Bills in order of appearance  

   2/25 Bills sortable by time, number, etc.  

All Upcoming Bills From Today Forward

House and Senate Calendars:

HOUSE – Your Feb. 25 Calendar here 

SENATE – Your Feb. 25 Calendar here 

You’re up to date. Have a great Thursday! 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