Castle Rock – When Sally Maguire moved to Douglas County in 1973, she registered to vote as a Democrat.
A few days later, her phone rang. The county clerk was on the line, astonishment in his voice.
“You registered as a Democrat,” Maguire recalled the clerk saying. “I need you as an elections judge. I have the hardest time finding Democrats.”
Not anymore.
In the 1970s, Douglas County Democrats numbered in the dozens. For the Nov. 7 election, 31,003 are in the ranks in this bastion of conservative suburbia.
One of the nation’s wealthiest counties has been the buckle in the conservative belt that stretches from Denver’s wealthier southern suburbs to Colorado Springs.
But next month, for the first time in a century, a Democrat will be on every line of the ballot in a county that hasn’t elected a legislator from that party since 1966.
Local Democrats see a leveling playing field in Douglas County, as polls suggest scandals, an unpopular war and an uncertain economy are tilting moderates and unaffiliated voters toward the left.
“I believe it will happen,” said Douglas County Democratic chairman Paul Thompson.
While Democrats nationally may prosper from disfavor with the GOP’s rule in Washington, Douglas Democrats shouldn’t expect too much success, said Lori Weigel, a partner with Public ap Strategies, the nation’s largest Republican polling firm.
“Douglas County may be one of the few bright spots for Republicans,” she said. “If I were a Democrat, I wouldn’t waste my time, effort and resources in Douglas County. I would move to Jefferson County.”
A Democrat hasn’t won a local office in Douglas County since 1988.
Republicans have 82,652 registered voters, or 51 percent, in the county, compared with 19 percent for the Democrats. Unaffiliated or third-party voters make up 30 percent.
“We see the growth in Democrats and see that they have become a more organized and stronger party than they have been in the past,” said Mark Scheffel, county GOP chairman. “But with the strength or our candidates and the strength of our message, we welcome the contrast.”
Like Weigel, Scheffel said he doesn’t believe national issues will affect the message or outcome in Douglas County.
“The Republican Party continues to be the party of more emphasis on the individual than the government, lower taxes and governance closer to home,” he said.
Democrats, however, say the economy’s squeeze on wages and the middle class, dismay over the war in Iraq, and the Mark Foley scandal will lure some who lean Republican.
In a poll by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center last month, registered voters favored Democrats on the economy by 15 percent, on jobs by 18 percent, on health care by 24 percent and on the environment by 38 percent.
On some issues, Douglas has been trending left since 2004.
That year, three ballot issues typically in the Democrats’ corner passed in Douglas County – renewable energy, mass transit and cultural funding. Voters have raised taxes for public schools twice since 2000, and a $200 million school proposal on this year’s ballot has no organized opposition.
Democrat Arlene Pemberton moved to Douglas County from Arvada in 1987, when the party was so desperate for activists that it put her on the county committee while she was still shopping for a house. The party’s fortunes have swung because of families’ economic worries, she said.
“If you moved here with a family with children, the dog almost has to have a paper route to make ends meet,” she said.
Just three year ago, Christian Moreau and his wife, Maritza Carrera, were so disheartened by the county’s GOP saturation they were ready to move to Boulder. Instead, they founded Highlands Ranch Democrats, the first of four such local clubs launched since 2004.
“We can’t take the credit,” Moreau said of the growth. “George W. Bush deserves the credit.”
Carrera has jumped into the fray as the Democratic candidate for Douglas County assessor.
During a meeting at the Highlands Ranch Library on Wednesday night, Moreau admonished members not to let up before Election Day.
“It’s who turns out their troops the best,” he said. “Now is not the time to get complacent.”
Staff writer Joey Bunch can be reached at 303-820-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com.
