Former state Rep. Keith King has his hands full running a charter school in Colorado Springs. But after much prodding from fellow Republicans, King says he will run for the Senate seat being vacated by Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany. King said he will make a formal announcement Thanksgiving week.
If elected, education reform will remain his top priority. “I can continue to move forward on the agenda I fought really hard for in the House,” King said.
King was majority leader of the House in 2004 when the Democrats pulled out a surprise election victory that gave them control of both chambers for the first time in more than four decades. Not only did it ruin King’s chances of becoming House speaker, he was blamed by fellow Republicans for not doing enough to keep the majority.
Republican Chuck Fowler Jr. has been mentioned as another candidate for the same seat. King said he will have a talk with Fowler about his plans.
C’est la vie
Politics is a funny business. Take the case of Democratic Rep. Dorothy Butcher of Pueblo, who might have to fight for her state legislative seat if she runs for another term in 2008, even though she was a shoo-in a few months ago.
Butcher announced this summer that she would retire from the legislature next year to run for the Pueblo County Commission. Candidates immediately lined up to run for her statehouse seat. Then a commissioner resigned last month, paving the way for Butcher to seek the commission vacancy by appointment. But county Democrats picked retired CDOT engineer John Cordova, giving him an edge in the November 2008 election.
Butcher now says she’s keeping all her options open. She might run for a final two-year term in the legislature in 2008 before being term- limited, and for the state Senate in 2010, she said.
The problem is that Sal Pace, former campaign manager for U.S. Rep. John Salazar, and Chuck Rodosevich, former Pueblo Democratic Party chair, also signed up to run for her House seat in 2008, thinking she was leaving. Pace plans to stay in the race. Rodosevich could not be reached.
“I’m still running full-steam ahead for the vacant statehouse seat in 2008,” said Pace. “I got in the race because she got out.”
Pace has the backing of several high-profile Democrats in and out of the district and is having no problem raising money. At least two fundraisers are planned for him in coming weeks, he said, hosted by Salazar and prominent Coloradan Frances Koncilja, president of the board of the City Club of Denver.
Meanwhile, some Puebloans say Butcher is playing coy. While she’s talking about keeping her seat in the legislature, she’s raising money for a 2008 county commission race against Cordova. “She’s trying to sneak-attack the guy,” a source said.
Butcher has not faced a primary since 2002. But now, she may have a battle on her hands— in either race.
GOP unveiling agenda
Look for state Senate Republicans to unveil their agenda for the coming session this week. Since 2008 is an election year, also look for the Republicans to take a few jabs at the Democrats, who control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office.
Staffers in the office of GOP Senate leader Andy McElhany aren’t dropping any hints about what the agenda will include. All the “major issues on the minds of voters” will be addressed, one staffer said. Republicans plan to be more “realistic” than the Democrats, he said.
A news conference is tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday on the west steps of the Capitol.
Julia C. Martinez (jmartinez@denverpost.com) is a member of the Denver Post editorial board.
