With election day come and gone, some members of the political class are back at it – stage-whispering online and elsewhere about which Democrats might force a primary contest with former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, who is the only Democrat in the 2006 race for governor.
Undeterred by his August announcement that he would not run, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s fans at the “Draft Hick” website sent out an e-mail Sunday urging people to call his office and persuade him to run.
The mayor’s phone Monday did not register much of a response, Hickenlooper spokeswoman Lindy Eichenbaum Lent said. He is still not planning on running, she said.
“Certainly, no matter what he says, people continue to encourage him to run,” she said.
House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, another widely discussed maybe, is not actively pursuing a run, but he isn’t ruling it out, either, he said Monday. “I haven’t made a decision, and I haven’t taken any steps in that direction,” he said. “I continue to be impressed by Bill Ritter. I happen to believe he’d be an outstanding governor, so I don’t feel there’s a shortage of talent in our field.”
State Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak said the speculation has picked back up since voters last week approved Referendum C . Many consider its passage to be a boost to people like Hickenlooper and Romanoff, who actively campaigned for the measure.
Some are uncomfortable with Ritter’s anti-abortion position and with the former prosecutor’s image in minority communities, she said.
“What I see happening is people are just saying ‘Isn’t there someone else?”‘ she said. “Once it’s clear there is no one else, people will get behind Bill and support him. But they’re still going to go through this thing for a little while longer.”
Staff writer Jim Hughes can be reached at 303-820-1244 or jhughes@denverpost.com.
