Mike Soraghan, a reporter in The Denver Post’s bureau in the nation’s capital, has won this year’s National Press Club award for Washington correspondence.
Soraghan, 37, has covered Washington for The Post since 2000. He won for his reporting on alleged misconduct in the office of former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo.
The award, to be presented July 18, honors “Washington reporting of events, issues and politics of importance to a city, state or region.” It includes a $1,000 prize.
In early 2004, Soraghan reported allegations that Campbell’s chief of staff had taken a kickback. Campbell first pledged a Senate ethics investigation of the matter, but a Justice Department inquiry soon followed. Campbell has retired from the Senate.
Soraghan and the Washington bureau also wrote of the role of Campbell’s office in pushing a no-bid contract to a company co-owned by one of Campbell’s political supporters. A Justice Department investigation of these matters continues.
Soraghan has been a Post reporter for seven years. He previously covered state government and Adams County.
In Washington, he has reported on the Colorado congressional delegation, the Air Force Academy sex-assault investigation, Gale Norton’s nomination as interior secretary and such issues as energy and the environment.
The National Press Club is a 97-year-old organ ization fostering excellence in journalism in Washington.
