Saying he wanted signs of support from his Republican colleagues before he agreed to continue serving on the Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee, that’s what state Rep. Bob Rankin of Carbondale received during a party leadership caucus at the state Capitol Thursday, Nov. 10.

Rankin, who has been the House GOP member on the JBC for the last two years, faced a challenge from state Rep.-elect Susan Beckman, who defeated Democrat Robert Bowen for the District 38 seat two days earlier in the general election. Rankin and Beckman were both nominated for the JBC slot and Rankin was declared the winner after a secret paper ballot.

“I’d like to know the vote count before I accept,” Rankin told the caucus. “If it’s close, I don’t want the job.”

When the vote total was not announced – the practice for all other contested leadership positions – Rankin said he would talk to newly chosen House Minority Leader Patrick Neville of Castle Rock. After the caucus ended, Rankin told The Colorado Statesman he did just that and would continue as the party’s JBC member.

“I looked him in the eye and said unless he really wanted me to do the job, I wouldn’t do it,” Rankin said. “He looked me in the eye and said he did.”

Rankin said he wanted the assurance of support because the position – which entails daily meetings and much research and studying on top of regular House duties and meetings – is an isolated one.

“There’s not the interchange with too many others and you’re focused more on making state government work instead of party issues,” Rankin added. “So it’s hard to know if what you’re doing is what the party leadership wants. I wanted the more political members to understand that.”

After her nomination as JBC member – which Neville seconded – Beckman said “it might seem presumptuous for a freshman legislator to put my name in the ring,” and respected what Rankin had done in two years on the JBC.

“But I think this is a great opportunity to let everyone here know I’m interested,” she said.

Beckman cited her experience as an Arapahoe County commissioner, which does not have a county manager to oversee daily operations and spending. An executive budget committee, which included Beckman, oversaw that responsibility.

“We were very disciplined and we never asked to be de-Bruced,” she said, referring to the process of seeking voter approval for an exemption to the spending limitations of the Taxpayers Bill of Rights. “But we still managed to build some major transportation and capital projects and still balanced the budget.”

Rankin told the caucus that he was “a little ambivalent” about serving on the JBC for a third straight year.

“Actually, I’m a little shocked that after two years, not everyone loves me,” he said with a slight chuckle. “The JBC is a very different role. You guys are great politicians, my mindset is working on big issues and problems from a different perspective.”

Rankin said his philosophy on the JBC was to always remember he was working for the people of Colorado with different needs.

“It’s not a place to count ‘no’ votes,” he added. “You end up voting for hundreds of things you never wanted because you have to budget wisely. I’m sure I’ve made mistakes because you have to move quickly.”

Continuity is important in the position, Rankin noted.

“We’re looking at a $500 million hole” in Gov. John Hickenlooper’s proposed 2017 budget, Rankin said. “And the governor has two pages of legislation to address that, so there are going to be a lot of minefields.”

“Expanded leadership team” seen as key

Prior to position nominations, a motion to hold off on nominating all but the minority leader and JBC member by state Rep. Yeulin Willett of Grand Junction failed. Willett wanted to wait until the expanded leadership team approach was finalized. Willett said he believed such an approach was key to unifying the party caucus and increasing transparency.

Neville, who defeated Democrat Shantell Schweikart in District 46 in the general election, told the Statesman his main goal is to get more people involved in the party’s issues.

“We always work better with a grassroots approach,” he said.

After his nomination – he was challenged for the position by state Rep. John Becker of Fort Morgan – Neville told the caucus he would hold discussions on how to make an expanded leadership team work best for the party. It would be similar to the caucus model used by Democrats, he said.

“It includes things like electing the JBC member as we did, with one to three other positions,” Neville said. “I want to make sure the process is more transparent and inclusive.”

Assistant Minority Leader Polly Lawrence who was expected to challenge Neville for the minority leader post did not throw her hat in the ring.

Neville also promised to fight hard to bring the party together in the face of a Democratic majority. Recalling his U.S. Army career, where he was a captain, Neville said even if there was disunity among troops, they would always work together when there was a mission.

“”It’s amazing how having a mission brings people together,” he added. “So our mission will be to fight this liberal agenda and I’m ready to be bold and strong to help do that.”

After he was nominated as minority leader, Neville told the caucus that there was a “tremendous pool of talent in this room, and I want to exploit and use those talents to accomplish our mission.”

Neville said that mission includes not only seeing Republicans become the majority party in the House, but a lean government.

“So inside these walls we may be the minority, but we need to reach the vast majority of people who are outside these walls,” he added.

Becker echoed the theme of teamwork and talents among party members.

“To gain a majority in the House can be done, but only if we’re a team and we’re unified,” he said. “It’s a new world we’re about to enter, the primaries are going to be different and we need to make sure we have qualified candidates for each seat.”

After Neville won the nomination, Becker promised to support him and Neville issued a call for “all running hands on deck.”

“Let’s move forward, let’s unify,” Neville added.

The GOP caucus unanimously chose state Rep. Cole Wist assistant minority leader, state Rep. Lori Saine caucus chair and state Rep. Perry Buck party whip.

A dose of political reality

Retiring minority leader and state Rep. Brian DelGrosso of Loveland told the caucus he wished he was leaving “on a more jovial day.”

“In the last couple of years, we’ve seen our party go from a majority to off the cliff, then some gains, but it’s not like what we hoped for this (election) cycle,” DelGrosso said.

He said Republicans need to accept the reality that House district maps were drawn in 2010 – after the last U.S. Census – to keep the party in the minority.

“You look at those maps, and there are six seats that could be in the minority every year,” DelGrosso added. “So we’re outperforming the maps, but not by much.”

“Like it or not, Donald Trump did not win Colorado,” DelGrosso continued. “Darryl Glenn did not win Colorado. Our candidates in the House in the four or five highly contested races we focused on outperformed the top of the ticket. But it wasn’t enough to get us across the line” to a majority.

DelGrosso said the GOP caucus needs to recognize “how things are set up” as it decides how the party should proceed.

“It’s like in football, we have ten players and they have 11,” he explained. “And we spot them a touchdown. We can still win, but we also need to accept the facts that this is how things are.”

House Democratic, state Senate caucus results

Meanwhile, House Democrats also caucused to choose new leadership. As expected, state Rep. Crisanta Duran of Denver was named speaker of the House and is the first Latina to hold the chamber’s top position. State Rep. KC Becker of Boulder won a three-way contest to become House majority leader.

Republicans retained control of the state Senate for a second term and chose state Sen. Kevin Grantham of Canon City president by acclamation. State Rep. Chris Holbert of Parker won a two-way race for the majority leader position.

Democrats re-elected state Sen. Lucia Guzman of Denver minority leader.