Forty Years Ago This Week: The Democratic candidates competing for the 6^th Congressional District seat in a special election had seemingly pulled a disappearing act with a total of four candidates withdrawing from the race.

The special election was called after the death of former astronaut and Republican Rep.-elect Jack Swigert who had won election in November but died of cancer on Dec. 27 before he could be sworn into office.

An apparently bitter Steve Hogan was one of those candidates to withdraw from the special election race. Hogan had been the Democratic nominee facing Swigert in 1982, but this round he surprised the Dems, announcing he would not be a candidate any longer because he was “tired of carrying water for the party.” He asked that the Democrats fill the bucket for him for a change. Swigert had defeated Hogan with 64% of the vote in the newly minted 6^th CD.

Both political parties had until Jan. 29 to select their nominee for the March 29 special election. While the Republicans had a plethora of announced candidates on deck, the Democrats were disappointed to receive a letter from former Gov. Steve McNichols announcing that he would not submit his name for consideration at the convention.

To make matters worse, Steve Leatherman, a corporate executive who had made an outsized impression on the Dems was found to be ineligible as he’d only been registered member of any party since Jan. 10.

Democratic CD6 chair Judy Henning found herself put forward as a logical alternative to Republican Sen. Dan Schaefer, R-Lakewood, but said flatly, “No – although I would love to take on Dan Schaefer. I might win, and I have no desire to go to Washington. My home and my family are here.”

Henning opined to Colorado Statesman reporters that Dan Schaefer was not that outstanding of a candidate, “Yet, I’m getting the impression that the national party is writing off the 6^th,” she added.

Henry Strauss, former state party treasurer and chairman of Hogan’s 1982 campaign, swore that the district was winnable for the Democrats.

“These races ought to be contested,” Strauss said. “That’s the way people make their choices.”

But when prodded as to why his candidate had dropped out of the race, Strauss replied that Hogan had withdrawn for purely financial reasons.

“The real question is who can raise the funding – if anyone. It’s a shame it has come down to that.”

Hogan said that he had found an abundance of encouragement for his candidacy at the local level, “but very little at the national level. I can’t see running a sacrificial lamb campaign,” he concluded.”

Henning joked with Statesman reporters saying that she’d been wondering for a week how to raise money for the eventual Democratic candidate and thought she’d finally found the answer – run a lottery and whoever plucked the winning ticket would get to be the nominee.

“Maybe some of the losing Republican contenders would want to give it a try, and even Steve Leatherman might be able to get backing that way,” Henning said. “This certainly has been a lesson in democracy in action.”

Thirty Years Ago: In a unique move, Gov. Roy Romer, along with members of his staff, were set to begin a tour of Colorado setting up interactive computer booths that would ask citizens to attempt to balance the state budget.

Romer said he was eager “to get out among ’em” once again.

“I am anxious to speak to Coloradans about their opinions and concerns about this state and this government,” Romer said. “We are designing the open forums to make them convenient for people. We’re going to the places where they gather during their off times to ensure they have the opportunity to take part in making these tough decisions.”

The computers, which had been supplied free of charge by IBM and Edge Corp., would also log the choices made by respondents. With their answers to the questionnaires and personal conversations, Romer said he was confident he would have a good idea about what choices Coloradans wanted made.

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.