A father and daughter. A campaign worker for John F. Kennedy who now champions the disabled from his wheelchair. A civil-rights advocate who almost believes her selection was divine.
The first round of Colorado’s pledged delegates selected to attend the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver come from a rich mix of backgrounds and are electrified about the party’s chances to make American political history.
“I’m not an institutionally religious person,” said Marzette Bedford-Billing hurst, but if there was a spiritual presence overseeing the delegate selection, she said, it “reached into (her) heart and said, ‘I know what this means to her.’ ”
Bedford-Billinghurst grew up overseas in a military family and didn’t move to the States until 1968, when she was 11. As an African-American, she was surprised at the kind of prejudice she experienced.
Now an ardent supporter of Barack Obama, she is thrilled at the success of the biracial candidate.
“It means so much for me to be there I can’t even . . .” Bedford-Billinghurst said, before coming to an emotional pause. “It’s just overwhelming to me.”
The Colorado Democratic Party confirmed Monday the 22 delegates chosen from four congressional districts this past weekend: the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th. The remaining 33 pledged delegates will be decided by this weekend.
Odell Barry, Colorado’s first black mayor and a former Denver Bronco, will attend as a delegate for Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Westminster man, 66, served as mayor of Northglenn in 1979.
“Hillary is committed,” Barry said. “She’s passionate about this country. And that passion, you can see it in her eyes. She’s driven, and I just like that.”
Joe Beaver is a retired accountant in Lakewood who was stricken with polio on Independence Day 1949 and who was returned to a wheelchair in 1996 with the disease’s aftereffects. He savors his selection as a chance to press the party’s attention to health care and long-term care.
“That’s my main reason for going there,” said Beaver, the board president for the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition. “The Democratic Party has pretty much opened its arms to us, and we need to hold their feet to the fire and make sure they do what they say.”
After handing out fliers for Kennedy in 1960, Beaver has spent a lifetime working in politics.
Another accountant, Bob Kihm, of Centennial, will be joined by his daughter, Sarah Kihm, a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder who works as the campus coordinator for Barack Obama.
Obama won Sarah Kihm over when he singled her out at a fundraiser last summer at the Jefferson County airport, saying, ” ‘It’s young people like this young woman right here who are really going to make the difference,’ ” she said. The moment solidified her support.
For her father, Obama awakened in him his first interest in campaigning. “Barack Obama has, in my view, Lincolnesque potential,” he said.
Lutheran pastor John Petty, of Aurora, has worked behind the scenes for months promoting Clinton. Petty, who served as a Colorado delegate in 2004 in Boston, said he was amazed at the level of competition involved in this year’s selection process.
He was one of two delegates selected for Clinton in the 6th Congressional District in a competition that featured more than 80 contestants.
Chuck Plunkett: 303-954-1333 or cplunkett@denverpost.com
Colorado delegates
Here is a list of delegates by congressional district released Monday by the Colorado Democratic Party:
1st CD, Clinton: Awilda Marquez, 58, Denver; Daniel Kagan, 34, Englewood
1st CD, Obama: Anthony Graves, 31, Denver; Crisanta Duran, 27, Denver; Seth Masket, 38, Denver; Allegra Haynes, 55, Denver
2nd CD, Clinton: Odell Barry, 66, Denver; Sacha Millstone, 49, Boulder
2nd CD, Obama: Jessica Wittmer, 30, Boulder; Shawn Coleman, 30, Boulder; Richard Gardener, 80, Boulder; Sarah Kihm, 20, Boulder
6th CD, Clinton: Rebecca McClellan, Centennial; John Petty, 58, Aurora
6th CD, Obama: Bob Kihm, 53, Centennial; Marzette Bedford-Billinghurst, 50, Greenwood Village; Paula Noonan, 59, Littleton
7th CD, Clinton: Monisha Merchant, age unavailable, Lakewood; Jere Kennedy, 38, Lakewood
7th CD, Obama: Joe Beaver, 65, Lakewood; Allison Cotton, 39, Aurora; Dorian De Long, 37, Arvada
