STATE BILL COLORADO

DENVER — A bill introduced last week in the state House of Representatives would put additional information about ballot measures in the state voter information guide, or Blue Book. HB11-1035, sponsored by Rep. Lois Court and Sen. Morgan Carroll, both Democrats, gets its first hearing Thursday morning in the House State Veterans & Military Affairs Committee.

The bill requires a statement before each measure in the Blue Book saying that language that appears in the ballot title is just a summary drafted by professional staff, and is not the actual language that will go on the books.

The bill calls for an additional statement, which is different for referred measures and initiated measures. For referred measures, the statement would tell voters that its text was thoroughly debated by the general assembly and is included on the ballot because it passed majority vote by the legislature. For initiated measures, the statement would tell voters that its text was drafted by the initiative’s proponents and appears on the ballot because proponents had gathered the required amount of signatures.

The idea for the bill came out of Court’s conversations with constituents, many of whom were confused about where ballot measures come from, she said.

“I teach American government at community college, so the natural pedagogue in me wanted to give my constituents more education,” she told State Bill Colorado.

Court considers the language of her bill “pretty neutral,” and said Tuesday she was unaware of any opposition to the bill, though she added, “I suspect some people will think it’s overkill.”

The proposal comes with a fiscal note of approximately $5,000 because of higher printing costs.

LAW WEEK COLORADO

DENVER — Colorado Attorney General John Suthers has appointed Bernie Buescher as the deputy attorney general overseeing the AG’s office’s State Services Section.

“I am pleased to welcome Bernie to my senior staff,” Suthers said in a statement. “Bernie is a proven leader and manager. His breadth of experience as an attorney, an elected official and a statewide executive will make him an excellent addition to the Office of the Attorney General’s management team. I look forward to working with him in this new capacity.”

Buescher was Secretary of State for two years but lost November’s election to Scott Gessler. Buescher’s last day as Secretary of State was Jan. 11. Buescher was appointed secretary of state in 2008 by Gov. Bill Ritter shortly after Buescher lost his reelection bid as a state representative from Grand Junction.

He had a number of public and private sector jobs before that, including president of West Star Aviation, Inc., and executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Finance under Gov. Roy Romer. A 1974 graduate of the University of Colorado Law School, Beuscher has also practiced law in Grand Junction.

Buescher replaces Monica Marquez as head of the State Services Section. Marquez joined the Colorado Supreme Court in December.

The State Services Section provides legal advice and representation for numerous Colorado state agencies, including the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, attorney general and the judicial branch of Colorado government. The section handles complex constitutional litigation as well as the defense of voter-approved constitutional and statutory provisions. The State Services Section also represents the State Board of Education and the state’s public college and universities.

Democrat Roger Wilson this afternoon claimed victory in the race for the five-county House District 61 race against incumbent Rep. Kathleen Curry, The Denver Post reports.

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By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS

Gov. Bill Ritter yesterday agreed that Republican Senate candidate Ken Buck’s hard-line stance on abortion helped cost him the election.

Ritter was appearing on 850 KOA’s Mike Rosen Show yesterday morning when the radio host argued that Buck’s opposition to abortion — even in cases of rape and incest — was a main reason Democrat Michael Bennet won last week’s highly contested U.S. Senate election. Bennet defeated Buck by less than 15,000 votes.

More unaffiliated voters, who represent approximately a third of Coloradans, voted for Republicans last week than in other recent Colorado elections. However, Buck did worse with women and moderate swing voters than most of his fellow GOP candidates.

Ritter said social issues become important in a close election where unaffiliated voters are split down the middle. Buck drew heat for saying that being gay is partially a choice, like alcoholism, and opposing abortion in all cases. Bennet’s campaign and outside groups hammered Buck for his comments.

“Those kinds of issues are loser issues for Republicans in a sense among that group of people who are the real undecided (voters),” said Ritter.

But Ritter believes that social issues were not the only reason Buck, a longtime friend of his, lost the election. He said that Buck’s perceived backpedalling on stances he took during the primary also cost him votes.

“Over a couple month period (he) built a case against himself for being a little difficult to contain and to predict,” said Ritter.

However, Rosen argued that Bennet won in part because he has “politics in his DNA” and was more guarded and intentionally vague than his Republican opponent. Ritter refuted the claim and called Bennet, who he appointed to his first Senate term, a “man who is very sincere.”

Campaign finance

After discussing the Senate race, Ritter went on to express his frustration with campaign financing. He said it’s becoming more difficult for politicians to prove their merit with the huge influx of money being spent in campaigns by independent parties. Politicians are not allowed to communicate with the independent groups by law and the groups typically run the most vicious campaign ads.

Rosen pointed out that Ritter and many of his fellow Democrat lawmakers have benefited from independent financing in the past. And while he didn’t deny the claim, Ritter still said something must be done.

“Negative campaigning at the level we experience here I think erodes public trust in public officials and I think that’s a bad thing,” he said.

Looking forward

Ritter also had some words for Gov.-elect John Hickenlooper on the radio show. He pointed out that Hickenlooper would likely have a more difficult time with the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) because it’s now evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. Ritter enjoyed a Democrat majority on the JBC while governor.

Ritter hopes Hickenlooper will do a good job of reaching across party lines, but added that “it’s a difficult time, no matter how you slice it.”

Hickenlooper should be careful about the transition in selecting a new cabinet, according to Ritter. One of Ritter’s main regrets is how he handled a bill when he first came into office that would have made it easier for unions to organize. Ritter ended up vetoing the bill, but not before he had angered both the business community and labor groups.

“I should have managed that process better,” he said.

Rosen said on-air that he noticed Ritter had a “lighter step.” Ritter acknowledged that he likely has a “lighter step” knowing he will be out of office in two months, but vowed to work hard until his final day as governor.

“This is a fascinating job,” Ritter said. “Every day can be different and there can still be pressures (and) you can’t really relax until you’re done.”

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Editor’s Note: Since this story was posted, current House Speaker Terrance Carroll sent the following message to his Facebook friends: “Congrats to Frank McNulty and the Colorado House Republicans on winning the majority.” The term-limited Carroll, a lawyer in the Denver office of Greenberg Traurig, also said he felt “awful” about losing the House but was confident the Dems would retake control in 2012.

By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS

Democrats did cartwheels; Republicans cheered.

So, with both parties relatively pleased with election results, will there be more room for collaboration and compromise?

Both parties yesterday answered “yes,” from Governor-elect John Hickenlooper to likely new House Speaker Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch.

“Whether they’re Republicans or Democrats, I want to reach across the aisle and try and get everybody at the table and give them actionable roles so that their contributions matter,” Hickenlooper said yesterday during a news conference at the Capitol.

The governor-elect and current Denver mayor signaled that he is considering cabinet positions for Republicans, but he made no formal announcements.

Hickenlooper said his experience as a small business owner will help him to bridge divides to get the job done. He said his political experience is “severely limited,” noting that his new position as governor will only be his second role as an elected official, adding that he is “not politically astute.” He said his “limited” political experience will help him to reach out to Republicans.

“Our ability to work together is too important,” said Hickenlooper, drawing upon similar themes on which he ran during his gubernatorial campaign. “How can we all work together?”

Republicans claimed victory of the state House yesterday morning, despite cries from Democrats that their celebration was premature. The discrepancy over whether Republicans had snatched control of the House from Democrats focused on two key races in Districts 29 and 33.

Incumbent Rep. Debbie Benefield, D-Arvada, was losing by 221 votes to Republican challenger Robert Ramirez, with 100 percent of precincts reporting yesterday afternoon in District 29. Incumbent Rep. Dianne Primavera, D-Broomfield, was losing by 405 votes to Republican challenger Donald Beezley, with 95 percent of precincts reporting yesterday afternoon in District 33.

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet can shed the less-than-flattering definitions bestowed upon him by his conservative critics.

He’s no longer “appointed Senator” Bennet, or even more degrading, “accidental Senator” Bennet.

No, the former superintendent of Denver Public Schools has won his first elected seat as a public servant, and it’s not just any seat, it’s a seat in the U.S. Senate, an elected position that most ambitious politicians work their entire professional careers to get to. Bennet did it in less than two years.

When he said goodbye to Denver Public Schools in January 2009 to head to Washington, after being appointed by Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, the Bennet bashing began. The entire Colorado political world was stunned that Ritter would have appointed a man with no experience in elected office to fill the vacant seat of veteran Democratic U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, now serving as Secretary of the Interior.

How could Ritter place Bennet in Washington over the likes of such Democratic heavyweights as the quirky Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, the personable former Colorado Speaker of the House Andrew Romanoff, and the popular Congressman from Lakewood Ed Perlmutter? But Ritter believed that Bennet was electable.

It turns out that Ritter was right. Bennet narrowly defeated Republican opponent Ken Buck yesterday by a mere 15,646 votes, as of 6 p.m. yesterday evening. He just barely avoided an automatic recount required under state law when there is a discrepancy of less than 12,000 votes.

Bennet survived an incredibly controversial and tightly contested primary against Romanoff, only to go on to fight one of the most difficult U.S. Senate races in the nation, if not the most competitive U.S. Senate race in the nation. Outside interest groups pumped more than $45 million into the two campaigns, fueling dozens of attack ads.

As much of the rest of the nation headed from blue to red, Bennet hung on into the early morning hours when it became more clear that he was going to pull off a victory not only for himself, but for Democrats across the nation who so desperately needed to hang onto the U.S. Senate seat.

“This election and our campaign was

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By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS

On the eve of a midterm election that could dramatically alter the political landscape, the heads of both the Colorado Republican and Democrat parties were optimistic that today’s vote would go their way.

Colorado Democrat Party Chair Pat Waak spent yesterday appearing with Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., to help people canvass. She was “cautiously optimistic” that today’s voting would benefit Democrats, and was confident about the Democrat candidates’ chances in the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate race. However, Waak was concerned about several of the congressional contests and had “no clue” about some of the other races.

Meanwhile, Colorado Republican Party chair Richard Wadhams was convinced yesterday that Republicans in Colorado would win three U.S. House races and take the majority in the legislature. He compared Waak’s confidence that Democrat Michael Bennet would beat Republican Ken Buck in the U.S. Senate race to “whistling past the graveyard.”

“We have the momentum,” he said.

The Senate race between Bennet and Buck has been called “the closest Senate race in the entire country.” Wadhams and Waak both have lawyers ready to go in case a recount is needed.

Political pundit and Denver Daily News columnist Aaron Harber doubts there will be a recount. Even when Bill Owens defeated his Democrat rival in the 1998 gubernatorial race by only 8,300 votes, no recount was called.

Governor race

Wadhams said he had no idea how the gubernatorial race between Democrat John Hickenlooper, Republican Dan Maes and American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo would play out. When Tancredo, a former Republican congressman, announced he would run for governor as a third party candidate because he didn’t believe Maes was electable, Wadhams publicly feuded with Tancredo for supposedly handing the election to Democrats. But now that Tancredo is polling within 10 points of Hickenlooper, Wadhams said he would be “delighted” if Tancredo won.

“Tancredo has done a great job in making himself the true challenger to Hickenlooper,” he said.

Harber believes Tancredo would likely win the gubernatorial race if he had one more week to gain momentum. But he added that Tancredo likely didn’t have enough time to secure enough votes, and that enough Republicans voted early for Maes to give Hickenlooper a victory.

Minor party status?

If Maes fails to get 10 percent of the vote, Republicans will be relegated to “minor party status” for the next four years. Being a minor party would mean that Republican candidates would appear at the bottom of future ballots with candidates from other groups like the Libertarian and the Green parties.

Wadhams said he has given little thought to the possibility of Republicans becoming a “minor party.” He believes the laws would be changed if Maes gets less than 10 percent of the vote.

But Waak didn’t think the possibility of Republicans losing its major party status would have a minor impact. She chalked up the possibility to “one more step in a series of missteps that have seemed to have happened for the Republicans.”

“That’s sort of what happens when leadership doesn’t take firm control over party process,” she said.

For his part, Harber also believes the laws will be changed to grant Republicans major party status if Maes doesn’t get 10 percent of the vote. The brouhaha over Maes needing 10 percent of the vote was likely pushed by Democrats hoping that it would scare enough people to vote for him over Tancredo, he said.

Initatives

Waak and Wadhams both don’t believe the major initiatives on the ballot, from the tax-slashing measures known as the “Ugly 3” (Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101) to a backdoor attempt to outlaw abortion (Amendment 62), will pass. The Democratic and Republican parties generally don’t take stances on initiatives, choosing instead to focus on the races, Wadhams and Waak said.

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By Peter Marcus, DENVER DAILY NEWS

An El Paso County District Court ruling this week could set a precedent for municipalities to run ballot initiatives that would prohibit future and existing medical marijuana businesses, advocates fear.

El Paso County District Court Judge Timothy Simmons ruled on Wednesday that the controversial ballot initiative can remain on the ballot, despite a lawsuit by 16 medical marijuana businesses seeking to have the initiative removed from the ballot. Advocates argued that the initiative violates the state constitution after voters legalized medical marijuana in 2000.

Attorneys argued that new state regulations allow municipalities to regulate medical marijuana centers, but does not authorize municipalities to ban medical marijuana centers after approving them in the first place.

Simmons ruled that it would be improper for a court to interfere by imposing a pre-election judicial action. He denied the motion to stop the votes from being tallied.

“The electorate are entitled to believe that their votes will be counted, and they’ll know the results and that the election will mean something,” Simmons said in his ruling, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Medical marijuana advocates fear that the ruling could set a precedent for other municipalities across the state to run similar ballot initiatives. There are currently 13 counties in Colorado considering bans on medical marijuana centers, according to Americans For Safe Access. El Paso is the most unique because the initiative would also close all existing operations.

Another 18 individual cities in Colorado are considering bans on medical marijuana centers, according to Americans For Safe Access.

An attorney representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit said it’s time for municipalities to consider medical marijuana centers businesses like any other business in Colorado.

“They seek the right to continue operating their businesses with the same authority they were granted by their government when they first opened their doors,” said attorney Bob Hoban. “The county’s actions here reflect an unconstitutional attempt at a regulatory taking. They can’t say ‘yes’ to such business, take our clients’ money, and then reverse course on a whim.”

Advocates are hopeful, however, that if El Paso County bans medical marijuana centers and closes existing centers, that the existing business owners will be entitled to monetary relief for destroying their business.

Steve Hammers, a plaintiff in the case, said it would be “devastating” for the county to close his business.

“When in American history has it been acceptable to let businesses start, invest, and then force them to shut down?” he asked. “It is blatantly unlawful to regulate, allow building permits, collect fees, and then vote to ban the industry.”

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By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS

Despite several polls having third party candidate Tom Tancredo within striking distance of Democrat John Hickenlooper in the gubernatorial race, the Hickenlooper campaign says they are keeping their promise to not run negative ads through Election Day.

However, a third party Democrat group over the weekend started running ads slamming Tancredo for supporting Referendum A in 2003, which would have bonded out $2 billion for water projects. And a Denver Post/9News poll released yesterday shows Hickenlooper with a 10-percent lead.

Hickenlooper vowed against going negative in his first gubernatorial campaign ad, and has so far made good on that promise. However, his commanding lead over Tancredo, who is splitting the conservative vote with Republican candidate Dan Maes, has dwindled to within four points, according to the latest Rasmussen poll. Meanwhile, Tancredo has attacked Hickenlooper at every step, most notably in a TV spot that in part blamed Hickenlooper’s “sanctuary city” policies for helping allow an illegal immigrant to crash into an ice cream store and kill a child.

Political pundit and Denver Daily News columnist Aaron Harber isn’t surprised that a third party group has started running a negative ad against Tancredo since the former Republican congressman now has a fighting chance against Hickenlooper.

“Hickenlooper will avoid breaking his promise by letting other people take care of those issues,” he said. “The dirty work will be taken care of by a third party.”

Meanwhile, Hickenlooper campaign spokesman George Merritt said the campaign is still refusing to go negative.

“John said from the beginning he would campaign on finding solutions to create jobs and turn our economy around, and nothing has changed that,” he said.

Regardless, Harber doesn’t think attack ads would play a significant role come Election Day. Even if Hickenlooper broke his promise to not go negative, the overwhelming majority of people have already made up their mind on who they will vote for, according to Harber. Early voting started last Monday.

“People are sick of the political advertising, I think people are no longer paying attention to the ads,” Harber said. “And I think the credibility for ads is so low, that when you hear something outrageous, even if it’s true, you assume it’s fabricated.”

Despite his surge in the polls, Harber doesn’t believe Tancredo will be able to beat Hickenlooper on Election Day because enough conservatives will automatically vote Republican to spoil his victory.

Tancredo, a former GOP congressman, joined the American Constitution Party after the primaries because he didn’t believe Maes had a chance to win the election.

However, Harber said Tancredo has pulled off an incredible accomplishment by getting within striking distance of Hickenlooper.

“I don’t think there were many people who thought Tancredo would be doing as well as he is now doing,” he said.  “I see Tancredo doing better every day that passes, but there aren’t enough days left.”

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STATE BILL COLORADO

A Denver credit union, Bellco, has removed from its Facebook wall pages of negative customer comments criticizing the company for spending $50,000 to attack incumbent Rep. Joe Rice, a Democrat, in his race against Republican Kathleen Conti.

During the 2010 legislative session, Rice voted against a bill that Bellco supported. The vote spurred the company’s late-campaign decision to give to an organization airing negative Rice TV spots and publishing anti-Rice mailers.

The effort has surprised some at the Capitol because Rice, seeking a third-term, is a moderate Democrat who reliably supports legislation seen as pro-business. Several area business organizations have endorsed his candidacy.

The credit union’s Facebook page can be viewed here. The Denver Post earlier reported on the Facebook blowback.

Bellco was formed in 1936 as the employees’ credit union for what came to be known as Mountain Bell Telephone.

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