Washington – The small pack of Western Democratic lawmakers who call themselves the “Coyote Caucus” got bigger Tuesday night.
There were six “coyotes” in the U.S. House of Representatives before Tuesday’s election and at least eight after, with the addition of Ed Perlmutter in Colorado’s 7th District and Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona.
It’s been a fitting name. Rocky Mountain Democrats have been an isolated breed, not much appreciated by the rest of the party. But after playing a key role in the Democratic takeover of the House, the “coyotes” say Democrats will have to pay more attention to the West.
“We might even have to have a formal schedule and a room in which to meet,” said U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs. “Coyotes tend to be loners and travel carefully and quietly and out of sight, but I think we’re going to be in full view.”
In early tallies from Wyoming, GOP Rep. Barbara Cubin was trailing Democratic Jackson Hole businessman Gary Trauner.
In New Mexico, Democratic Attorney General Patricia Madrid had a razor-thin early lead late Tuesday over Republican Rep. Heather Wilson.
In the Senate, Montana Democrat Jon Tester was leading Republican Sen. Conrad Burns in early returns.
The Democratic takeover of the House will likely mean swift death to proposals to sell public land and better chances of passing wilderness legislation, said Pat Williams, a former Democratic congressman now at the Center for the Rocky Mountain West.
He said Democrats would rein in the oil- and gas-drilling boom in the West but not end it.
Former Colorado Republican Congressman Scott McInnis said the losses suffered by his party are not the result of a sea change in Western attitudes.
“It’s not that the West has changed,” McInnis said. “It’s not a good Republican year. If you look at any one of those races, it’s because of the candidate.”
The signature Western race was in Montana. Burns trailed for much of the campaign, dogged by his close ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and repeated gaffes, such as berating a group of firefighters at a Montana airport. But Burns picked up ground late.
In Wyoming, after a recent debate, the gaffe-prone Cubin reportedly told a Libertarian candidate who uses a wheelchair that “If you weren’t sitting in that chair, I’d slap you across the face.” She later denied she mentioned the wheelchair.
Though Wyoming hasn’t sent a Democrat to Congress since 1979, Trauner gained traction with a campaign in which he claimed to have knocked on 15,000 doors.
Giffords won the Arizona seat vacated by moderate GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe, who’d refused to support conservative Republican Randy Graf.
Arizona GOP Sen. John Kyl survived a late $1 million investment by national Democrats.
Staff writer Mike Soraghan can be reached at 202-662-8730 or msoraghan@denverpost.com.
