Twenty-Five Years Ago This Week: “The Colorado state Senate and the U.S. Senate are quite similar at this point,” wrote state Rep. Richard Decker, R-Fountain. “The 18-17 divide in Colorado doesn’t look significant numerically, but it grants Democrats a huge say in what happens with legislation.”

Decker said that if the prospect were reversed, and Republicans were in control, “we might even have responsible, effective growth legislation accomplished today.”

In a report to his constituents in House District 19, Decker also postulated that newly appointed state Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Durango, was rumored to have been opposed to the Democratic Party’s version of “no holds barred” growth control mandates. 

“The governor suggested that’s why it never came up for a vote — Isgar would have voted with Republicans,” Decker wrote. “He is a rural, moderate Democrat who probably won’t agree much with the urban, liberal Senate leadership.”

Isgar spoke with The Colorado Statesman and said the issue was much more complex than Decker would have people believe.

“I wanted the growth bill to resolve some of the rural issues,” Isgar said, “and with the amendments we had drafted, I could have voted for it.”

But the final growth bill didn’t move over to the House, Isgar said, because there were a host of other unresolved issues, not just those affecting rural areas, adding that he understood he was seen as more conservative than the urban legislators and that occasionally people thought he sounded a bit Republican.

“I’m a Democrat because of more than just rural issues,” Isgar said when putting to rest the rumor that he might switch parties. “It’s because of healthcare issues and women’s issues, too.”

Senate President Stan Matsunaka, D-Loveland, wasn’t taking Isgar for granted. He’d appointed the first-term legislator to the chair of the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

Matsunaka called Isgur’s chairmanship “natural” and said, “There isn’t a more qualified and experienced senator on rural and agricultural issues.”

Twenty Years Ago: “This business changes every day,” said Gov. Bill Ritter at his campaign headquarters on Bannock Street. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Ritter had reasons to celebrate. After months of waiting for a potential primary challenger, Ritter could relax knowing he’d be the only Democrat in the gubernatorial race. And that left Ritter with a sizable war chest headed into the general election.

In the first quarter of 2006, Ritter had raised $156,000 while his two Republican opponents, U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez and former Denver University President Marc Holtzman, had raised just $73,000 and $61,000, respectively. 

Ritter was also pleased that the infighting between the two Republican candidates had already started and would, in the long term, only benefit him.

“Beauprez and Holtzman are going to drag each other down,” Ritter said. “They’re not doing much to elevate the public’s trust in the process. It’s sad.” 

But Ritter wasn’t resting on his laurels; he was campaigning as hard as he could and running to win. The evening before, he’d attended three events in less than three hours.

According to his campaign manager and longtime political consultant, Greg Kolomitz, many of the 17 campaign staffers and unpaid volunteers were putting in 12-hour days regularly. 

“I always assumed that we were going to have some kind of a primary,” Kolomitz said. 

The independently wealthy Rutt Bridges, head of Colorado’s Bighorn Center, had entered the gubernatorial race early but dropped out after only a few months. Senate President John Fitz-Gerald, D-Coal Creek Canyon, and House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, had both considered running. 

“For a while there was the possibility that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper would run,” said Evan Dreyer, Ritter’s campaign communications director. “When he did announce his decision not to run there was a good amount of high-fiving. The general consensus at the time was that if Hickenlooper had joined he would have been a clear favorite to win the entire election.”

Rachael Wright is the author of several novels, including The Twins of Strathnaver, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing columnist to Colorado Politics, the Colorado Springs Gazette, and the Denver Gazette.