bill ritter
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Blake: On the initiatives, just say ‘no’
I love the initiative process in theory. Power to the people! In practice, not so much. At least this year. Like a pianist playing scales, I used to warm up for my biennial ballot concerto by quickly flipping the “no” lever on all the judges up for retention. It not only flexed the fingers, it…
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Western Slope Dems look down ballot in post-Bernie world
With the official nomination of Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, longtime Democrats and progressive political activists on Colorado’s Western Slope are grappling with the impacts on down-ballot races in a post-Bernie Sanders world. Some candidates and party officials are predicting a Democratic exodus of disaffected Bernie backers to the Green Party, while…
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Looking back, Ritter proud of policies that have Colorado ‘Powering Forward’
When former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter was elected to his first and only term in the governor’s mansion in 2006, Colorado generated more than 70 percent of its electricity by burning coal – the majority of it from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. Ten years later, despite the “New Energy Economy” Ritter championed for four years,…
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McCann’s term limits set off Democratic battle for House District 8
With Rep. Beth McCann, D-Denver, locked out of running again for central Denver’s Democratic stronghold of House District 8 due to term-limits, the upcoming June 28 primary could decide the area’s representative for the next eight years. Given the fact that McCann has averaged about 80 percent of the vote against Republican challengers, in the years she…
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YESTERYEAR: Special session looms after high court tosses immigration initiative
Ten Years Ago this week in The Colorado Statesman … Gov. Bill Owens threatened that he would be forced to call a special session on immigration matters later in the summer if the Colorado Supreme Court didn’t reverse its decision throwing out a proposed ballot measure that would deny government services to undocumented immigrants. “In…
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BARTELS: Colorado welcomes a new lieutenant governor
Donna Lynne officially became Colorado’s 49th lieutenant governor after she took the oath of office at the state Capitol in front of friends, family and a whole lot of political folks. Lynne told Gov. John Hickenlooper during the ceremony on Thursday it was a good thing he didn’t choose her as his running mate…
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Beauprez campaign accuses Holtzman of breaking law with media spin
Ten Year Ago this week in The Colorado Statesman … The race for the Republican nomination for governor was steaming up. John Marshall, campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, demanded that GOP rival Marc Holtzman immediately fire his campaign manager, Dick Leggitt, and submit his campaign to a formal investigation for “the flagrant and…
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Hospital provider fee debate set to intensify
The political tension around the state budget that has flared intermittently this legislative session will grow hot and steady at the end of March. House Democratic leaders said Tuesday that they plan in March to team debate on the budget “long bill” with a push to to avoid more than $350 million in cuts by…
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The Hot Sheet, February 17, 2016
By TCS Publisher and Editor in Chief Jared Wright _@JaredWright_ Wednesday, February 17, 2016 DENVER – Happy Wednesday, and good luck to you for the rest of your week. We are a mere three days away from the Nevada Caucuses, when we will be given a taste of how these presidential candidates perform in a Western state. We…
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The Hot Sheet, February 16, 2016
By TCS Publisher and Editor in Chief Jared Wright @_JaredWright_ Tuesday, February 16, 2016 DENVER – Good morning, and happy Tuesday! Hoping your President’s Day hangover will be lifted by Noon. Now your substrata feed straight from the politics pipeline: A Colorado Latin@ name surfaces as a possible Obama SCOTUS nominee, but not the one you might think…