Mount Virtus

"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

Ben on Social Media

Home Archives for 2010

Archives for 2010

By Leave a Comment

State Employee Suffers Under Union Executive Order: Where’s Hick?

Coming off this weekend's big Republican State Assembly, we have heard both leading Republican candidates for governor -- Dan Maes and Scott McInnis -- declare the repeal of Bill Ritter's union executive order. I think we all get the point of how the policy is a raw deal for Colorado taxpayers. But what about state employees themselves? Enter Dave Ohmart, with his latest report:In a recent incident in Pueblo, Colorado WINS prevented Sgt. Jeff Hotchkiss, of the Department of Corrections, from participating in a vote that would have affected his work schedule. A few union members, very few, voted to make the correction officers’ work schedule 12 hours per day. The sergeant, and pretty much all other officers, were not allowed to … [Read more...]

By 2 Comments

Colorado Republican State Assembly: Review of Winners and Losers

Today was the Colorado Republican State Assembly, and a lot of first-time delegates filled the floor and the seats. Energy and enthusiasm clearly were higher than I've seen in the past few election cycles. I spent much of my time today conducting more than two dozen videotaped interviews of officials, candidates and delegates for the People's Press Collective (check back later for the video). The balloting results already have been posted by El Presidente, Lynn Bartels and Don Johnson. So in the meantime, before the videos go up (as well as a few photos I snapped), I'll share my list of winners and losers from this weekend's festivities, based on my personal assessment: … [Read more...]

By Leave a Comment

May Survey of Colorado’s Political Temperature: Same Winners Emerge

For those who are interested, the results of the May survey of Colorado's political temperature are posted on Facebook. For a variety of reasons, including the transition to a new setting, participation in the survey is down significantly -- leaving perhaps the most dedicated and passionate 117 conservative Colorado political Facebookers (half of whom say they plan to attend Saturday's state GOP Assembly as either delegates or alternates) to chime in. A few highlights for your consumption: Ken Buck is a runaway winner in the U.S. Senate primary Dan Maes pulls in 50 percent, Scott McInnis about 30 percent and newcomer Joe Gschwendtner picks up a few votes Ryan Frazier, Cory Gardner and Scott Tipton remain clear frontrunners in their … [Read more...]

By 2 Comments

Colorado State House Breakdown: Majority Up for Grabs, Tiny GOP Edge

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 … [Read more...]

By 2 Comments

John McCain to Host D.C. Fundraiser for 7th CD Candidate Lang Sias

A lot of hullabaloo has been made of late about U.S. Senate candidate Jane Norton's D.C. fundraisers. Less well known are the plans of 7th Congressional candidate Lang Sias. Four days after the 7th CD Assembly -- in which Sias will struggle against the strong grassroots base of support for conservative Ryan Frazier to secure 30 percent and get a place on the ballot -- Sias is planning a D.C. fundraiser at the Capitol Hill Club with John McCain. The following is the email from Lang Sias:As many of you know, I'm running for Congress in Colorado's 7th Congressional district. We're making some very good progress on the ground; we picked up a bunch of endorsements over the last week, and are charging into the Congressional district … [Read more...]

By 8 Comments

Colorado 2010 State Senate Showdown: GOP Challengers Gain Momentum

It's been a long time since I offered up rankings of the Colorado state senate races most likely to switch party hands this fall. Now that the latest voter registration numbers are available, campaign finance reports are in and the legislature is out of session, it's time to take a fresh look. Just for review, there are 35 seats in the Colorado state senate, and Democrats possess a decisive 21-14 advantage. State senators serve four-year terms and only come up for election every other cycle, unless there was a vacancy filled and a special election is needed. Nineteen of the 35 seats are up for grabs in 2010: 11 held by Democrats and 8 held by Republicans. Five of the Democrat-held seats and all but one of the Republican-held seats are … [Read more...]

By 2 Comments

Bob Beauprez Backs Lang Sias, Raises Questions about Relevance, Judgment

In one of Colorado's most head-scratching political moves of the year, former GOP Congressman and wildly unsuccessful 2006 gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez announced his endorsement of 7th Congressional candidate and Republican newcomer Lang Sias. The first reaction I and many of my politically aware friends had pretty much boiled down to: Huh??? When Tom Tancredo and Jimmy Lakey threw their support behind Sias, they carefully avoided trying to draw distinctions among the Republican field. Not so Beauprez: … [Read more...]

By 1 Comment

Elections Have Consequences

Below is an actual letter sent out last week to the employees of a company doing business in Colorado. It is presented without comment. The names of the company and the individuals have been redacted. Staff: When people say elections don’t matter, that their vote doesn’t count, and that they cannot make a difference – they are wrong! … [Read more...]