Colorado Politics

Report: Denver Schools Chief Chosen for Senate Seat

By Jonathan Weber , 1-02-09

The Denver Post is reporting that Michael Bennet, the superintendent of schools in Denver and former chief of staff to Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, has been chosen to fill the Senate seat being vacated by soon-to-be Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

The Post says the choice came down to Bennet or Hickenlooper, and that Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to formally announce the selection on Saturday.

Bennet has been an ambitious and at times controversial school superintendent, drawing fire for an early decision to close a venerable but underperforming inner-city high school but eventually gaining the support of many community leaders.

Bennet, like Hicklenlooper, is a graduate of Wesleyan University in Connecticut (which also happens to be the alma mater of yours truly), and he holds a law degree from Yale. His father, Doug Bennet, is a former president of Wesleyan, and his brother, James, is a prominent journalist and now editor of the Atlantic Monthly magazine.

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