Mount Virtus

Three of the five Board seats for Colorado’s largest school district are up for grabs in 2013. One of them is just inviting a challenge. Jeffco school board director Paula Noonan made local headlines for displaying a serious bout of bad judgment:

Jeffco school board member Paula Noonan was arrested during a traffic stop Jan. 8 when Denver police officers became aware of an outstanding warrant from a 2011 traffic ticket.

Noonan’s arrest was not the first occasion during the term of the school board’s First Vice President in which she has drawn media scrutiny for irresponsible behavior. Local TV news covered her controversial 2010 Dakota Ridge High School commencement speech, with one parent describing it as “a rambling, self-absorbed discourse that confused and embarrassed graduates and their families.” (more…)

Efforts to organize constituent groups to contact and lobby their elected officials have grown more sophisticated in recent years. Many of us like the ease of the online petition that automatically directs messages to our representatives based on our input location data — though I frequently prefer to tailor the pre-fab messages with my own words.

I can’t be the only one who has subjected myself to an onslaught of email messages urging me to call my Congressman or state senator over the latest hideously outrageous or earth-saving piece of legislation. A result of the sheer volume of these messages, combined with limited resources and competing priorities, my eyes long since have glazed over most of them. Have I become too cynical? Perhaps.

But in an amusing development, one state teachers union has contracted with a service to help overcome member apathy:

Why was [Maryland Sen. David Brinkley] getting so many calls? The Maryland State Education Association hired a company to call teachers from throughout the state, and then connect them with their senators.

Unfortunately, there was just one small problem with the approach:

Brinkley, who said he planned to vote against all three tax proposals, said teachers seemed caught off guard and ill-prepared to speak to their senators.

As Mike Antonucci wrote in response, “If you hire a company to call teachers and then connect them to their representative’s office, you might want to make sure the teachers realize what you’re doing.”

Can you imagine any other advocacy group trying so desperately to hold its constituents’ hands like helping a toddler cross the street (do I know a thing or to about that)? Especially a group on the Right? Well, if someone were to follow the MSEA’s strategy, they at least might want to find a better way to prepare members or supporters for that all-important call with their elected representative.

It looks very much like Colorado is only one year behind in achieving a labor movement milestone measured at the national level. A little over a year ago I reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finding that government employees represented a numerical majority of the unionized workforce in the United States. (You can listen to a 2010 iVoices podcast on this finding that I recorded with the Alliance for Worker Freedom.)

This milestone is the culmination of a decades-long trend in which private sector unions have diminished while Big Labor has targeted government agencies as fruitful sources of revenue. As of 2010, we have the first strong indications that the same observation can be made of Colorado — namely, that more of the state’s union members work for government than for a private employer.

In light of the legislative action taking place in Ohio and Wisconsin, I have written on some of the critical differences related to union collective bargaining between the private sector and the public sector. An even better explanation of the inherent defects in government collective bargaining appears in a recent op-ed by David Denholm published in the Washington Examiner. (more…)

(H/T Schroeder) Yesterday was the 240th anniversary of the birth of the great and revolutionary musical genius Ludwig von Beethoven. Because it fits my mood for today, here’s the triumphant finale to the legendary Fifth Symphony:

For past reflections on Beethoven, visit last year’s post.

Update, Noon: Here is the one-page summary of official recommendations made to the Douglas County Board of Education by the School Choice Task Force’s “Option Certificates” subcommittee.

So unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past couple weeks, you may have heard Douglas County — one of Colorado’s largest school districts — is considering the adoption of a local voucher-style private school choice program. Independence Institute blogger “Eddie” has covered the story well here and here.

With all the coverage in the Denver Post, it’s not surprising that plenty of readers wanted to weigh in with letters published in Sunday’s Perspective section. I was disappointed to see most of the letters rely on misinformed premises and/or produce shoddy arguments. As a result, I feel impelled to respond. (more…)

Lu Busse, Chair of the 9.12 Project Colorado Coalition, this evening dispatched an open letter to Tom Tancredo in response to the former Congressman’s serious threat to run as a 3rd party candidate for governor if Scott McInnis and Dan Maes don’t announce they will drop out of the race by tomorrow at noon. The letter is copied in full below the fold: (more…)

Update, 6/11: Final results are in. As expected, Walker Stapleton moves forward. Gubernatorial candidate Joe Gschwendtner and state senate candidate Mark Hurlbert both failed to make the ballot — the former by a mere 242 out of 10,500 votes. “They won’t have Joe G to kick around anymore.”

One day to go for the Colorado Secretary of State’s office to verify whether candidates who opted to petition onto the ballot collected a sufficient number of signatures to move ahead. The updated list is here (PDF).

As of 5 PM on Thursday, five candidates (including Jane Norton for U.S. Senate) have qualified for the ballot and one was disqualified. The fate of two Democrat and five Republican campaigns are up in the air, including:

• State treasurer hopeful Walker Stapleton, who likely has enough to qualify
• Gubernatorial contender Joe Gschwendtner, who looks like he’ll be cutting it very close
• State senate candidate Mark Hurlbert, whose chances don’t look too good

Tune in tomorrow to find out what happens.

If I were to pick candidates to support in this year’s primary based on the ill behavior of political allies, I wouldn’t be able to back Jane Norton or Ken Buck to be Colorado’s next U.S. Senator.

First, it was the over-the-top attacks from Norton lieutenant Josh Penry (whom I had enthusiastically decided to endorse during his brief, abortive run for governor) against Buck.

Then yesterday I nearly fell out of my chair when I read this bizarre hit piece by Red State’s Erick Erickson on Jane Norton. Until today, most of Buck-backer Erickson’s jabs at Norton have been at least somewhat reasonable. Then he highlighted this passage from an AP story: (more…)

On Thursday I updated the rankings of Colorado’s competitive state senate seats. After 15 weeks it’s also time to update the Colorado state house rankings.

A quick overview: There are 65 seats in the Colorado state house, and all of them are up for re-election every two years. State representatives are limited to four two-year terms of service. Currently, the Democratic majority holds 37 seats and Republicans 27, with one seat belonging to unaffiliated (and former Democrat) Kathleen Curry.

Fifty-two incumbents are running to retain their seats: 30 Democrats (including 2 vacancy appointments), 21 Republicans (including 2 vacancy appointments) and Curry. That leaves 7 open Democrat and 6 Republican seats.

Interestingly, Colorado Republicans are very close to running a 65-district strategy, as the GOP is fielding candidates everywhere except Boulder County’s House District 10. On the other hand, Democrats are competing in only 49 of 65 districts, conceding 16 races (including five with no incumbent) out of the gate by not fielding any candidates.

Given the dynamics shaping up through the end of April, I rate 30 of the 65 races as marginally competitive or better: 26 held by Democrats (21 incumbent, 5 open); 3 held by Republicans (2 incumbent, 1 open); and the unaffiliated seat. I have listed all 30 below in order that they are likely to switch party hands, but only include comment on the first 12.

As the spring finally dawns, it looks extremely narrowly like the GOP has just enough momentum to win a 33-31-1 majority heading into 2011. But plenty can happen between now and the time the final votes are cast in early November: (more…)

Update: For comparison, a video of Ellen Roberts’ SD 6 assembly speech also has been posted.

It’s been a few months since I provided an update of Colorado state senate races. I rated Senate District 6 — in southwest Colorado, on the other side of the state — as the number one Republican target, noting with current Rep. Ellen Roberts remaining on pace fundraising with Democrat incumbent Bruce Whitehead that, “This seat remains the closest to an automatic party switch in the fall.”

But the people of Senate District 6 will have something to say about the matter first. Last Saturday the late-entry campaign of San Miguel County’s conservative Dean Boehler took some state political observers by storm by capturing 66 percent of the delegate vote at the SD 6 Assembly. The Boehler campaign has put together an 8-minute video featuring the candidate’s Assembly speech: (more…)

How many truly bad ideas can come up in the course of one Colorado legislative session? More than you may think (or maybe not). The latest hasn’t even been formally introduced yet, but the backlash has grown strong. Fox31 News reports on a proposal that would open up Colorado’s election system to fraud and abuse:

The 68-page draft bill, likely to be sponsored by House Speaker Terrance Carroll, D- Denver, and introduced later this week, would allow Colorado voters to register just three days before the 2010 election.

Currently, Coloradans must register to vote up until 29 days before an election. Carroll says allowing a longer registration period will open the door to greater voter turnout. But Republicans see it as a blatant attempt to bolster Democratic voter ranks ahead of an important election.

“I think it’s 100 percent politically-motivated,” said state Rep. Carole Murray, R-Castle Rock, the former Douglas County Clerk and Recorder. “I can’t understand how someone would present such dramatic change to election law just short of an upcoming election, unless they had some ulterior motives.”

(more…)

Update: Scanned copy of the March 5 Taxpayers for Liberty letter posted below.

Yesterday I received a strange mailing from a group called Taxpayers for Liberty. (Many of my fellow conservative, politically-active Colorado friends likely received the same.) It’s a self-described 501c4 organization with a Denver P.O. Box and an executive director named Andrew O’Neill — I’m almost positive it’s not this Andrew O’Neill.

I will take time later today to scan and post the four-page letter, along with the attached questionnaire and reply form, so you can see the mailing for yourself. It looks a lot like your standard political fundraising letter, with short paragraphs and heavy on underlined text and bullet points. Suffice it to say, the group Taxpayers for Liberty is very fond of Ken Buck, while railing on Jane Norton for not returning the questionnaire and Tom Wiens for filling out the questionnaire identically but having a voting record, or something like that. (more…)

Sick of the Winter Olympics? Looking for something to do? Here’s a show you should tune into tonight (and not just because two of my liberty-loving friends are on it):

Studio 12 “Tea Party Movement”

Wednesday, February 17 at 8:00 pm on Channel 12 / 12.1 (more…)

It really stinks to be the Appointed One these days. As if trailing all potential Republican rivals in the polls (including Jane Norton by double digits) wasn’t bad enough for junior U.S. Senator Michael Bennet.

Then Bennet sticks out his neck, kowtows to Barack Obama to cast a losing vote for Craig Becker and back-door union card-check, only to get this news shortly thereafter: (more…)

An interesting development in Colorado’s Republican U.S. Senate primary: Ken Buck has won the full-spirited backing of influential Red State master blogger Erick Erickson — who among other accomplishments has helped fuel Florida’s Marco Rubio rise from upstart to frontrunner over Charlie Crist.

Can Erick help do the same for Ken Buck here in Colorado? Perhaps. The Weld County DA has a lot of catching up to do on the fundraising front.

Is Buck (or someone else) the grassroots candidate? You help decide by casting your vote before tomorrow (Friday) at 5:00 PM on the latest survey of Colorado’s political temperature.