Following two years of Democratic control of the Colorado legislature and governor’s mansion, Denverites continue to hold the most powerful positions in state government, to the dismay of some Democrats in other parts of the state.
The geographic reality is the result of Tuesday’s elections, in which the top contender to become speaker of the House, Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, was defeated by his Republican opponent.
With Buescher’s loss, Assistant Majority Leader Terrance Carroll, D-Denver, was chosen by House Democrats as speaker, becoming the first black lawmaker to head the lower chamber.
The Senate is already headed by an African-American, Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, and Carroll’s ascension is historic for the state.
But Carroll’s rise also means that Colorado’s House speaker, Senate president and governor — Democrat Bill Ritter, who grew up on a farm east of Aurora — all hail from the metro area. Groff and Carroll live just 10 blocks from each other in northeast Denver.
The Democratic lineup continues a trend of metro-area Democrats holding the top positions since the party took control of both houses of the legislature in 2004.
But after this election cycle, there are only a few rural Democrats in any key leadership slots.
It’s something rural Democrats noted immediately.
“I’m disappointed we don’t have more rural representation in leadership,” said Sen. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, who served as the Senate Democratic caucus chairman for the past two years but was passed over by fellow Democrats for a leadership position this year.
Listening to rural concerns
The Senate’s Democratic leadership team this year includes Groff as president, Sen. Betty Boyd of Lakewood as president pro tem, Sen. Brandon Shaffer of Longmont as majority leader, Sen. Lois Tochtrop of Thornton as assistant majority leader and Sen. Suzanne Williams of Aurora as caucus chairwoman.
In the House, Democratic leadership includes Carroll as speaker, a yet-to-be-named speaker pro tem, Paul Weissmann of Louisville as majority leader, Andy Kerr of Lakewood as assistant majority leader, Karen Middleton of Aurora as caucus chairwoman and Claire Levy of Boulder as majority whip.
Newly elected Rep. Sal Pace of Pueblo was elected deputy whip and is the only non-metro lawmaker in House Democratic leadership.
Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, ran for speaker in the wake of Buescher’s defeat and said she was disappointed by the low rural representation in leadership. Still, she said she was optimistic House leaders would listen to rural concerns.
Curry, Isgar and others said rural- area Democrats, who often face tough re-election fights, have a more moderate perspective than urban and suburban Democrats who may live in districts that are blue — or nearly blue — echo chambers.
“What may appear to be moderate in Denver may be liberal out where we live,” Isgar said. “We need to remember that. You can’t put rural lawmakers in the position of voting against their districts.”
Groff said he valued Isgar’s input and noted the rural senator still would head the Senate Agriculture Committee.
“I certainly understand the concerns that rural Colorado might have,” Groff said.
Buescher, who lost to Republican Laura Bradford, reminded his fellow House Democrats in a speech last week of the importance of rural representation.
“I just urged the House caucus to remember the diversity of this state and that the rural part of this state sees things and cherishes some things differently than urban areas,” he said, citing guns, property rights and oil and gas issues.
Diverse choices among GOP
Part of the reason the Democratic leadership is so Denver-centric is because that’s where most Democrats come from, while so few come from rural areas, where Republicans tend to dominate.
Under Republican control in decades past, it was more common for rural lawmakers to be in charge. Of six Republican House speakers prior to Carroll and Romanoff, four were from rural areas and two were from Colorado Springs.
Meanwhile, five of 10 Republican Senate presidents since 1950 have been from rural areas and one from Colorado Springs.
Sen. Josh Penry, R-Grand Junction, was just picked as his party’s minority leader in the Senate. He said Democrats are making a strategic mistake.
“I thought it was peculiar that Democrats would sideline the really fine leaders they have from rural communities, particularly in the aftermath of Election Day,” Penry said.
Despite what Penry called a Democratic “tsunami,” Republicans picked up seats for the first time since 1994 in the House and may have held their ground in the Senate (the outcome of one race is still too close to call).
“Democrats became a statewide party” in recent elections, Penry said. “This is a retreat from that.”
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com
