Rocky Mountain Political Grok
Elections Take Cake For Biggest Western Story of 2006
By Courtney Lowery, 12-31-06
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2006 was a whopper of a year for Western politics. If the year-end roundups all the newspapers are running this weekend are any indication, collectively THE story of the year in the Rocky Mountain West was the November elections, hands down.
Votes taken by the Associated Press in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado all put the elections at that "top ten stories of 2006" list. In Wyoming, the nail-biter between Democrat Gary Trauner and Republican Barbara Cubin for Cubin's House of Representatives seat topped the list; In Colorado, Democrat Bill Ritter's ousting of Republican Bob Beauprez for the Governorship was the lead story; And in Montana, that all-night election that finally put Democrat Jon Tester in Sen. Conrad Burns' seat was voted as the state's top story. The New Mexico Congressional race, pitting Rep. Heather Wilson against Patricia Madrid rated only third in the AP's New Mexico list.
While all these stories look back on 2006 (and God knows the western elections have been analyzed nearly to death), a majority of the Western political news this week was actually saturated with a look ahead -- specifically at the transitions taking place. While you and I were stuffing stockings and our faces, Western politicos were filling cabinets and staffs, gearing up for their new jobs.
Take Jon Tester for instance. He's assembling his team as I type. The big positions have been filled, as the Associated Press reported this week, but others will be announced before the Senate convenes. His chief of staff will be Stephanie Schriock, a Butte girl who worked with Gov. Brian Schweitzer when he ran against Burns in 2000 and more recently was Howard Dean's senior adviser during his presidential campaign. Bill Lombardi, a longtime Democratic supporter who started working with Tester in the earliest days of his campaign will be his state director. Like Lombardi, Schriock and Tester's communication director (Matt McKenna) and press secretary (Aaron Murphy) worked with Tester in his campaign.
But, the biggest transition seems to be happening in Denver, where Bill Ritter is getting ready to take over the Governor's mansion. Ritter has begun selecting his cabinet members, but as the AP reports, one key position is up in the air: Republican Russell George, who served as the executive director of the Department of Natural Resources, is asking to stay on under Ritter.
AP writer Steven K. Paulson looks ahead this week at the new administration, reporting that Ritter has been planning this transition since before the elections. On his plate, Paulson reports, will be uniting Republicans and Democrats to encourage renewable energy, expand health care and fund education.
Meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain News' Jeff Smith reports on the gig outgoing Guv Bill Owens' already has lined up for when he leaves office next week. Owens, along with JF Cos. Chairman Joel Farkas and former state House Majority Leader Chris Paulson is creating a real estate investment group. And, a defeated Republican candidate Bob Beauprez is on his way home to Lafayette, where he actually didn't win a single district.
Center for the Rocky Mountain West Senior Fellow Dan Kemmis writes about what the new year could mean for Western governance and where the change is most likely to happen: cities. In an opinion piece, Kemmis writes, "Clearly the heart of the burgeoning Democratic strength in the region, Western cities also present the most crucial test of governing capacity." But later, Kemmis adds that to govern and manage those urban powerhouses, "... any governing party must break down some of the rural- urban divisiveness that has afflicted the region for so long."
This post has been corrected to show Bill Ritter beat Bob Beauprez for the Colorado governorship.
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Comments
Of course everyone's already lining up for 2008 and the (hopeful) replacement of Senator Bland (R) (uh.. whatisname.. oh yea, Allard).
Bookings are being made for the 2018 and 2020 election cycles (mostly by kids who have been practicing mud slinging in your friendly local puddle and can hardly wait to try the same with nice campaign clothes on..)
Could be an interesting _____ (fill in time period of choice)