More than 1,000 people stood in front of the Capitol in the cold and waited in a line that stretched two hours Tuesday to shake hands with a new governor they say connected with voters hungry for change.
“We believe in what’s happening here,” said Vivia Lawson, an artist who made the four-hour drive from Alamosa. “Something is happening that is very important.”
Evergreen lawyer John Canny was hopeful that with Gov. Bill Ritter’s administration would come improvements in health care and environmental policy.
“It seemed to me he offered some hope,” said Canny, standing in the line snaking through the first floor of the Capitol and down the south steps. “It seems to me this state has kind of been hurting.”
Many who attended Ritter’s official swearing-in, including public officials, ordinary Colorado voters and 150 of his relatives, said they were impressed by his sincerity and commitment to education, renewable energy and his family.
Ritter’s four children – three boys and the youngest, a 13-year-old girl – exchanged smiles and whispers as they sat on the Capitol steps among former governors and political dignitaries. All of the kids, along with Ritter’s wife, Jeannie, huddled next to Ritter as he took the oath of office.
“It is a difficult thing for a family to be put in a fishbowl,” said freshman Sen. Chris Romer, a Denver Democrat who was thinking about the inauguration of his father, former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, in 1987. “I’ve had a few private chats with the Ritter boys.”
The energy of a Democratic takeover for the first time in 45 years spilled into the Capitol hallways during a two-hour reception. House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, received backslaps and kudos from Democratic supporters who passed him in the rotunda, but he remained cautious.
Romanoff said he and his colleagues don’t plan to push an agenda down GOP lawmakers’ throats but instead will work in a bipartisan manner.
“We could do just like the Republicans did and run roughshod over the rules, but we’ve been pretty attuned to arrogance and overreaching and also humbled by the budget. We have healthy checks on our ambition,” he said.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, also in attendance at the reception, said he had no regrets about deciding against a run for governor.
Hickenlooper said his wife, Helen Thorpe, not one for elaborate ceremony or the spotlight, whispered to him during the inauguration, “I’m so glad it’s not me up there.”
“I’ve never had a moment of second thought,” Hickenlooper said. “No regrets.”
Lawmakers milled around the Capitol, chatting about the session that begins today. Meanwhile, camera-carrying citizens waited for their chance to take snapshots with the new governor or share their hopes for the state’s future.
“I told him he carries the prayers of a lot of Colorado citizens,” said Macon Cowles, a Boulder attorney. “He said, ‘Thank you very much and I intend to work hard every day.”‘
Robyn Serratore, a high school friend of Ritter, waited in the reception line with her two daughters, 10-year-old Bryana and 6-year-old Alexa.
Alexa had her own personal hope.
“I’m going to ask him for a horsey,” she said.
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-954-1594 or at kcrummy@denverpost.com.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-954-1593 or at jenbrown@denverpost.com.
Mass appeal
As Bill Ritter drove to morning Mass, the Rev. Bill Morell said he told Ritter, “Give me a sign when it’s gone too long, and then later today I’ll do the same for you.”
During the service, Morell noted there was no collection plate passed during Mass.
“I know those of you who have been around Bill for the last couple of months find this unusual,” he joked.
What’s past is past
Steve Farber, a Democratic operative who backed Ritter’s Republican opponent, Bob Beauprez, appears to have made proper amends. Immediately after the ceremony, he was spotted entering the private area restricted to close friends and family.
Red-faced, too?
Ritter’s election was part of a historic November that saw Colorado turn from Republican red to Democratic blue. So why the red tie?
A school billion
Michael Bennet, Denver Public Schools superintendent, said Ritter’s speech had a “great message of hope.”
He also thought he heard another message.
“He said we’ll be getting a billion dollars for Denver Public Schools, right?”
Relatively big event
Ritter, one of 12 children, commented on the two busloads of relatives who showed up for his swearing-in.
“My family is a big family. We get 45 or 50 people out for a touch football game. This is how we turn out for an inauguration,” he said.
Emotional thanks
As Barbara O’Brien, the new lieutenant governor, was sworn in, she neared tears while thanking her supporters and “my incredible husband, Rick O’Brien, who still brings tears to my eyes.”
Storm troopers
As Ritter took the reins of government – during a pause in the state’s snowstorms – he thanked elected leaders and government employees for their hard work, including “schoolteachers, our troops in Iraq, our Colorado National Guard … and certainly our snowplow drivers.”
Two forms of ID
It seems new Secretary of State Mike Coffman, the former state treasurer, may have a hard time assuming his new identity. When Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Mullarkey went to swear him in, she referred to him as treasurer, then apologized and clarified he is “outgoing treasurer and incoming secretary of state. After the reception, his successor, Cary Kennedy, was overheard also referring to him as treasurer as she made an introduction.
– By staff writers Jennifer Brown, Jeri Clausing and Karen Crummy
