As promised, last week the state senate; this week the state house. Currently, the Democrats own the chamber by a 38-27 advantage. It's a fairly safe bet that the Republicans will have more representatives than 27 come 2011. But winning back the majority will be a tough challenge, so just how many can they win? All 65 seats are up every two-year cycle, and a lot of jockeying can still be expected to take place. Of current Republican-held seats, the only truly vulnerable one belongs to one-term incumbent Kevin Priola (HD 30, Adams County). On the other hand, based on voter registrations and incumbent strength, here are what I see as the dozen Democrat seats that are potential pick-ups -- as you'll see, some likelier than others: … [Read more...]
Harry Reid Compares ObamaCare Foes to Pro-Slavery, Makes Case for His Own Post-Senate, Village-Based Career
Update, 5:00 PM: Witticism of the day goes to the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto, who observes that "[Reid's] success to this point seems something of a miracle--an inspiration to dour, foolish men everywhere." Was that one of the painful throes of sheer desperation we heard from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid yesterday?Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took his GOP-blasting rhetoric to a new level Monday, comparing Republicans who oppose health care reform to lawmakers who clung to the institution of slavery more than a century ago.... "Instead of joining us on the right side of history, all the Republicans can come up with is, 'slow down, stop everything, let's start over.' If you think you've heard these same excuses … [Read more...]
Thanks to Recovery.Gov, Time to Learn about Connecticut’s Fighting 42nd CD
It's Friday, time to lighten up ... Remember all those extra phantom congressional districts on the $18 million federal government boondoggle Recovery.gov? Well, apparently they provide a fabulous educational opportunity. Compliments of the Franklin Center and the Colbert Report, here's your chance to learn about Connecticut's "Fighting" 42nd Congressional District. Prepare to laugh: … [Read more...]
Lang Sias Joins Crowded GOP Field in Colorado 7th Congressional Race
ARVADA--Add one more to the list of Republican candidates for Colorado's 7th Congressional District. This morning at DiCicco's Restaurant in Old Town Arvada, U.S. Navy veteran and former McCain presidential senior staff member Lang Sias told a crowd of about 20 supporters that he was officially throwing his hat into the ring to challenge incumbent Congressman Ed Perlmutter. Sias -- an Arvada resident and father of two (soon to be three) -- touted the need for "mature, commonsense, fiscally conservative principles" in Washington, D.C., as well as for bringing down the federal debt and reforming tax and trade policies. Calling on his national security credentials, he observed: "There is evil in the world, and we can't ignore it or charm it … [Read more...]
Colorado 2010 State Senate Showdown: An Early Look at Hot Races
Colorado Republicans need to win four seats in the upcoming 2010 elections to win back a majority in the state senate. While such a development remains improbable at the moment, it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility. Of the 35 four-year seats in the chamber, 19 are contested in 2010 (including two for special election). Of those 19 seats: 4 are Democrat incumbents facing re-election to a second term 4 are open seats currently held by Democrats 3 are Democrat incumbents seeking their first election to the seat after filling a vacancy 5 are Republican incumbents facing re-election to a second term 2 are open seats currently held by Republicans 1 is a Republican incumbent seeking his first election to the seat after … [Read more...]
Memo to Colorado GOP: Court–Don’t Co-opt–The Tea Party Crowd
Update, 12/2: More valuable insights from Joshua Sharf. First, the Denver Post's Dan Haley weighed in on the Republicans' "Platform for Prosperity." Today, the story went national with coverage from Wall Street Journal reporter Stephanie Simon, and a quote from from one of my favorite grassroots activists (in spite of her misplaced football loyalties):Republicans, however, said the platform would prompt voters to focus on the party's message, rather than their feelings about individual candidates. "People can vote for the agenda," said Tom Tancredo, a former Republican congressman who had been mulling a run for governor. But Nikki Mata, a conservative activist in suburban Denver, said that such a strategy misses the point of the … [Read more...]
Labor Transparency Completely Missing from Obama Administration, Colorado
With so many other outrages going on in the Obama administration, you can be forgiven if you're not aware of the stonewalling at the U.S. Department of Labor. After months of bureaucratic wrangling, the National Right to Work Foundation was compelled … [Read more...]
Dan Haley: “Too bad voters can’t be trusted with…electing their leaders”
Denver Post editorial page editor Dan Haley and I at times certainly disagree. But one observation in his Sunday column deserves a hearty "Amen":Too bad voters can't be trusted with such matters as electing their leaders. At some point, party insiders need to shed their irrational fear of primaries and realize they can actually help candidates. What's at issue? Well, the sense of unity supposedly fostered by Republican leaders' new "Contract for Colorado" -- er, "Platform for Prosperity". The fact that it was drafted for the party's rank-and-file as a way to determine our candidate for us has not sat well. Especially without a grassroots escape clause. … [Read more...]
A Grassroots Escape Clause in the New Colorado GOP Prosperity Platform?
So some Colorado GOP leaders have crafted a Prosperity Platform and rallied behind Scott McInnis as the gubernatorial candidate. Meanwhile, some in the grassroots remain thoroughly unconvinced and stand behind hard-working longshot Dan Maes. The issue is not the rhetoric or the substance of the 20 governing principles that has earned skepticism or even ire. It's some of the cast of characters involved that many understandably still have a hard time trusting. I'm not all the way there yet myself. What might help make the Prosperity Platform more palatable is an escape clause -- and by that I mean not for McInnis, but for us. So the issue is an agreement to fulfill the 20 principles. What happens if he is elected and then reneges, … [Read more...]
SD 16: Cheri Gerou, Don Ytterberg Out; Evergreen Businessman Tim Leonard In
The exciting opportunity for a Republican pickup in Senate District 16 with a departing incumbent Democrat Dan Gibbs has taken some interesting turns in the past week. State senate minority leader Josh Penry's most highly touted replacement was Cheri Gerou. But the HD 25 representative told me today her current seat is "where I plan to stay." So count out Gerou. Then there's Ali Hasan who, while refuting my initial speculations that he might contend, had suggested Jeffco GOP chair Don Ytterberg as a great candidate. However, Ytterberg says he has no desire to take another shot at SD 16 and is dedicated to his current work. "I made the commitment to work for the success of our party and I will do that to the best of my ability," he … [Read more...]
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