Twenty Years Ago: The victory party at City Park had started – even before the Denver election polls had officially closed – to support what political pundits were calling ‘anyone’s candidate,’ a man new to politics – but no stranger – in the city with a funny last name.

The new Denver mayor-elect – a short but sweet new title that, when announced from stage, instantly activated a charged crowd – would be a candidate who had received multi-tiered support throughout Denver’s diverse communities.

That new mayor was John Hickenlooper.

The Denver businessman had skillfully attracted votes from both Democrats and Republicans alike, from both business and labor, whites and minorities.

Refreshingly to many political insiders, the six months of vigorous campaigning between Hickenlooper and longtime politico Don Mares had featured none of the acrimony of the previous congressional and senate races; rather it had been comprised of spirited debate focused squarely on the issues.

Hickenlooper began his victory night speech by thanking the city of Denver for their support.

“Hundreds of people have given their time and treasures for change,” Hickenlooper said. “Today we don’t fear change; we embrace it. We don’t fear diversity; we honor it. We don’t yearn for yesterday; we anticipate and relish tomorrow.”

Hickenlooper heaped thanks not only his supporters but the “seven incredible candidates” who, he said, had raised the race to a higher level.

“To Don Mares I say thank you. You ran a strong campaign, and I am proud to share this campaign with you. Don Mares and I proved that you could run a positive campaign without negative attack ads.”

Hickenlooper, after much raucous applause, quoted Galileo Copernicus saying that he could see farther than others because he was standing on the shoulders of giants as he introduced outgoing Denver Mayor Wellington Webb onto the stage.

“Weird things happen in Denver,” Webb said. “You guys decided to elect some guy named Peña, then some guy walking around this city named Webb, and now you’ve elected the Brew Man … Hickenlooper. I will work with you and your staff and give you the tools to leave behind because on July 21 you are the new leader.”

Thirty Years Ago This Week: Recovering from a severe viral infection at University Hospital, state Sen. Ray Powers, R-Colorado Springs, discovered that the medical predicament he found himself in had set off a political scramble in the within the El Paso County GOP.

Rep. Tom Ratterree, R-Colorado Springs, had visited Powers in the hospital to pass along information that Rep. Ron May, R-Colorado Springs, was eyeing his seat.

The rumor had originated from reports that both May and Senate District 10 Chairman Phil Conway had called El Paso County Republican Party headquarters inquiring about Powers’s condition and had said they were researching bylaws in case the seat was vacated.

But when contacted by reporters, both May and Conway vehemently denied any involvement or cooperation in an alleged effort to undercut Powers or benefit from his medical crisis, except…

Conway did admit that he had called the El Paso County Republican Party headquarters, but just to asked whether they’d been getting a lot of inquiries about Powers’s condition.

“The staffer told me that ‘I can’t tell you any of the details about those calls; it’s an in-house problem.’ And that reply told me all I needed to know,” Conway said.

Conway told The Colorado Statesman that he’d concluded that interested persons had called the county party headquarters to find out how to “convene the vacancy committee and conceivably replace Powers, who at the time was critically ill, instead of talking directly with me.”

The “anonymous” persons, Conway said, were coming “through the back door” in order to keep May from taking Powers’s seat and making El Paso County into another arena for a Republican Party dogfight.

“It’d be logical that May would think about Powers’s seat,” Conway said. “He’s the only one with any experience in the senate district. The callers saw a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Whoever they were calling for wanted to make sure they were on the inside. Why else would they talk about the vacancy committee?”

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.