John Suthers, appointed state attorney general last year, won his first election to the post Tuesday, building a comfortable lead over Fern O’Brien.
Originally, political pundits believed that Republican Suthers would have no problem being elected to a full term. But to his surprise and the delight of Democrat O’Brien, polls showed Suthers ahead of the challenger by only a few points as Tuesday’s election approached.
Suthers was appointed attorney general last year by Gov. Bill Owens to replace Ken Salazar, who was elected to the U.S. Senate.
Suthers said that in his jobs as a Colorado Springs district attorney, U.S. attorney for Colorado and attorney general, he has always tried to build bipartisan support.
He said that when Owens appointed him, Salazar, a Democrat, said Suthers would make a good attorney general – a kind word that emphasized the bipartisan nature of his public service.
“I worked hard on a bipartisan basis and I think the vote is a testament to that fact,” Suthers said.
Both Suthers and O’Brien, a Boulder lawyer who focuses on real estate and business law, had run low-key campaigns, considered to be among the cleanest this year in the state.
But Suthers said he believed his success was due, in part, to many votes from Democratic supporters.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
