Forty Years Ago This Week: Not long after being elected as treasurer of the Boulder County Republican Party, former Chicago attorney George Hilgendorf was approached by several prominent but unnamed Republicans to run for statewide office.

Responding in true political fashion, Hilgendorf had asked his supporters to be patient. But after nearly nine months in office, he told The Colorado Statesman that he was “thinking” about running for Colorado treasurer three years down the road in the 1986 election.

Hilgendorf said he was keen to avoid a primary, and while he still wouldn’t name the influential members of the GOP who were pushing him to run, he did suggest that he was in contact with Colorado Republican Party Chairman Bo Callaway through members of his staff.

Statesman reporters questioned the incumbent in the treasurer’s office an up-and-coming politician named Roy Romer, who said he had not yet decided whether he would be seeking reelection.

“To be frank … I’ve been concentrating on the work I’ve been doing – 1986 is a long time away,” Romer said.

Serving his second term as treasurer, Romer said that he had a few options in front of him, including running for reelection or returning to the private sector.

But that was not all he had in mind.

“I would seriously consider running for governor if Dick Lamm didn’t run again,” Romer mused. “Or maybe I could run for treasurer of Boulder County. The county post is one experience I haven’t had. I’ve got a good job, I enjoy it, and I’m doing it well, but maybe the Boulder treasurer has a good job that’s more interesting and we can switch.”

Thirty Years Ago: Former Sen. Barry Goldwater made a surprise drop-in on a Colorado crowd, throwing his considerable weight behind Republican gubernatorial candidate state Sen. Mike Bird, R-Colorado Springs, at an “I Like Mike” party hosted at the Westin Hotel in Denver.

The event netted more than $60,000 for Bird’s campaign coffers and had more than 450 Republicans in attendance.

Goldwater outlined to the happy crowd why he was supporting Bird. They shared many beliefs, he said, most importantly the strong objection to governmental intrusion in business and personal lives. The former presidential candidate told the crowd how he used to sit in his car in 111-degree heat for an hour to get his exhaust system checked and questioned why such programs were necessary in such a pristine state as Colorado.

Following Goldwater’s introduction, Bird described himself as a “middle class candidate” and outlined his conservative economic beliefs, while describing Gov. Roy Romer as a “tax and spend Democrat, a tax and spend governor.”

Bird promised to reduce or eliminate welfare programs, if elected governor, as well as cutting back Medicaid, which in 1993 counted for 20% of the state’s budget. Bird did not comment on abortion rights nor Amendment 2, which would limit rights for homosexuals, but instead castigated Romer for dividing and defying voters by his negative reaction to Amendment 1 (TABOR).

In other news, Swanee Hunt, chair of the Mayor’s Human Capital Agenda Council and president of the Hunt Alternatives Fund, said she was deeply honored that President Bill Clinton had asked her “to service his administration as ambassador to Austria.”

“I look forward to putting my energy and commitment into carrying out the president’s agenda, as well as strengthening the close bonds between our country and the Austrian people,” Hunt said.

A not-insignificant campaign trail donor for Clinton, Hunt had contributed more than $250,000 to the Clinton campaign and was masterminded behind the “Million Dollar Day” symposium, featuring high profile Democratic women. Hunt held a PhD in Theology and was a former president of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado.

If confirmed by the Senate, Hunt said she would be joined in Austria by her husband Charles Ansbacher, president and CEO of the New World Airport Commission, after he concluded his opening activities for Denver International Airport.

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.