Alma Garcia, Zee Ferrufino, state Rep. Angela Williams and Congressman Ed Perlmutter at the Colorado Democratic Party’s annual Jefferson Jackson dinner Saturday. Perlmutter was named Democrat of the Year. (Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)
Congressman Ed Perlmutter won Democrat of the Year Saturday night in a ceremony that had party members loving him even more.
First of all, the Jefferson County Democrat insisted the annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner end by 9:30 p.m. In some years, the keynote speech . And then Perlmutter kept his own speech short to ensure the Colorado Democratic Party could end on time.
Throughout the night, there were loud cheers from Democrats assembled at the downtown Denver Marriott whenever Perlmutter’s name was mentioned.
“I want Democrats to win. When we win we change and shape the future,” Permutter said when he accepted the honor. “And because we believe in freedom and in opportunity and in justice for all, especially for the hard-working people in the middle, we make that future a lot better than the other guys.”
Perlmutter did his across the stage when he finished.
Congressman Ed Perlmutter and his former spokeswoman, Leslie Oliver. (Brian Eelms/Facebook)
Perlmutter, an attorney and Jeffco native, was one of only three Democrats nationally to win an open state Senate race in the 1984 GOP wave year. Former state Senate President Stan Matsunaka was present to watch his colleague accept his award Saturday.
In 2006, Perlmutter won his first race for Congress and .
Congressman Jared Polis of Boulder, who was at a family wedding, honored Perlmutter via video. “He’s a team player,” Polis said. “More than you ever know, he has contributed to the success of Democrats up and down the ballot … . Ed has always been there.”
Congressman Diana DeGette, who presented Perlmutter with the award, started out rapping Republicans over the fight on Homeland Security funding.
“After 2016 we’re going to pass comprehensive immigration reform,” she predicted.
She talked about Perlmutter’s love of campaigning door-to-door, which started as a young boy when he helped his father, Leonard Perlmutter, work on campaigns. She said Perlmutter now has members of Congress checking their gadgets to see how many steps they have taken.
DeGette described Perlmutter as the most wonderful father “in the entire world,” a sentiment often echoed at the statehouse from lawmakers who said he was devoted to his three daughters and was their primary caregiver.
Perlmutter got huge cheers when he thanked his second wife, , and his family and friends.
He also thanked his staff. “You’re only as good as the people you work with and I work with the best people possible,” Perlmutter saids.
Unlike some Democrats on the campaign trail in 2014, Perlmutter never shied away from President Obama and he mentioned him again at the JJ dinner. “I’m especially proud of the work I did for President Obama. He has made a difference in the present and the future,” the congressman said to cheers.
Perlmutter then turned to 2016, predicting Democrats would send an additional member of the party to Congress and promising to work as hard as possible to see that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is successful in her bid to become the country’s first female president.
The crowd went nuts.
