Senate Republicans on Thursday grudgingly confirmed Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter’s choice to replace Republican businessman Bruce Benson on the Metropolitan State College of Denver board of trustees.
“You have big shoes to fill,” Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton, told Antonio Esquibel. “He was a hero to many of us.”
The Senate Education Committee unanimously confirmed Esquibel, a retired Metro State professor, after Republicans said they were concerned Ritter was diluting the balance on the board, which Benson had chaired since its creation in 2002.
“That’s between the former chair and the governor of Colorado,” Esquibel responded, pointing out that when the board was created, then- Gov. Bill Owens appointed eight Republicans and only one Democrat.
“That’s a rate that’s almost unheard of in Colorado,” he said.
Most boards are more evenly split, giving the governor’s party just a slight majority, he said.
With Esquibel’s appointment, the board still has one more Republican than Democrat, school officials said.
A former Colorado GOP party head, Benson remains a powerful figure in Republican politics. During last year’s election, he was one of the major contributors to a campaign committee that funded aggressive attack ads against Ritter and a number of other Democrats.
Benson said he was disappointed by Ritter’s decision not to reappoint him, but he emphasized that the state has a new governor and both parties must work together for the good of the state.
Capitol bureau chief Jeri Clausing can be reached at 303-954-1555 or jclausing@denverpost.com.
