The Unaffiliated.

All politics, no agenda.

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

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Keep reading for more on Crisanta Duran’s surprise decision, the 2020 presidential race and Gov. Jared Polis’ strong-arm tactics at the Capitol.

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Crisanta Duran’s political remake, the awkward Hickenlooper-Bennet tango, new lobbying numbers and much more

 

By John Frank with Jesse Paul and Sandra Fish
The Colorado Sun

The remake of Crisanta Duran started Tuesday. In her first public event as a congressional candidate, the former Colorado House speaker tried to position herself to the political left of U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, the 12-term incumbent Democrat Duran will challenge for the party’s nomination in 2020.

“I’m a progressive and what being a progressive means is we work to not take anyone for granted and we don’t leave anybody behind,” Duran told the annual Colorado Women’s Legislative Breakfast in Denver.

She mentioned climate change and income inequality as two top priorities, and later in an interview with The Sun, she endorsed the Green New Deal proposal, a new Democratic manifesto that is being seen as a barometer of a candidate’s liberal ideology. “This is the time for political courage,” Duran said. “This is not the time to be safe.”

Even though she was careful to thank DeGette for her service (without mentioning her by name), it’s clear that Duran is trying to put daylight between their political records. It’s a tough sell because Duran is considered a moderate Democratic voice from her two-year term as speaker -- a next-generation DeGette, if you will.

“Their policy agendas are almost indistinguishable from each other,” said Eric Sondermann, a political analyst from Denver, “but politics isn’t just about policy agendas. It’s about personas.”

Duran spoke to the stylistic differences between her and DeGette at the event, blasting President Donald Trump in the first minute of her keynote address and later telling a woman in the crowd that “these times require a new and different style of leadership.” She never really clarified what she meant, other than to say she would be more present in the district.

DeGette will run from a position of power as chairwoman of an oversight subcommittee investigating the Trump administration, but she lost her chief deputy whip job after attempting to challenge a powerful lawmaker for the party’s No. 3 leadership post.

DeGette defeated a rival from her left flank in the 2018 election, and Duran will need to tap into a new pool of support to win the heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District in Denver.

Former House Speaker Crisanta Duran, right, speaks with a woman after she gave a keynote address at the Colorado Women's Legislative Breakfast on Feb. 26, 2019. (John Frank, The Colorado Sun)

MORE: One of the only people not surprised by Crisanta Duran’s announcement Sunday was Diana DeGette. Duran called DeGette before she declared her bid, she told The Sun. Asked about the call, Duran sounded like it didn’t go well. The only thing she would say about it: “We had a conversation.”

Duran was mentioned as a possible U.S. Senate candidate in 2020, but she decided against it because she believes she could be more effective representing Denver in the U.S. House.

The question now is whether Duran can get support from Justice Democrats, the organization that helped Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeat a top-ranking Democrat in New York. So far, the organization isn’t looking at Colorado’s 1st District seat for a potential upset and it’s not on the national radar.

ALSO: If you want to understand how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s agenda is influencing the political conversation, check out this Denver7 report on “AOC’s” tax ideas.

 


 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I’m not cut out to be a senator.”

-- Former Gov. John Hickenlooper on the campaign trail in Iowa, dismissing the possibility that he would challenge Republican Cory Gardner in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race in 2020 and moving himself further into the 2020 presidential camp.

MORE: This isn’t the first time Hickenlooper’s suggested he doesn’t want the job, despite lobbying from Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, whom he called “one of the more persuasive people in my acquaintance.”

The statement appears to reflect Hickenlooper’s true thinking and it’s something he’s said in the past. But those who know Hickenlooper suggest his quote above is not a death knell for his chances if he later enters the U.S. Senate race. He can always pivot to Trump as a reason he changed his mind.

 


 

THE NARRATIVE: Colorado politics in 60 seconds

Inside a recent story about a legislative push to address the state’s low vaccine rate is a profound line about Gov. Jared Polis’ strong-arm tactics when it comes to the legislature:

The governor’s office attempted to limit the state’s public health agency from consulting on the legislation because Polis opposes the concept.

The move generated huge controversy behind the scenes, in part because it wasn’t the only instance in which Polis attempted to block state lawmakers from getting information. The detail builds on an exclusive story in The Sun earlier this month about how Polis’ approach to the legislature is creating as many problems as allies.

The relationship so far between Polis and lawmakers perplexes both sides. To lawmakers, it’s perplexing because Polis served in the U.S Congress. To the Polis administration, it doesn’t make sense why lawmakers would push back against a shared policy agenda.

It may seem trivial, but not to key lawmakers. If the tension continues to build, it would not only affect the relationship between Democratic legislative leaders and Polis, but also may jeopardize other party priorities.

ADDENDUM: Gov. Jared Polis went (back) to Washington last week for the National Governors Association meetings, according to his schedule, and met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. The meeting is noteworthy because Polis snubbed Trump in December when the president held a similar meeting.

At an event hosted by Politico, Polis covered a wide range of topics about his legislative agenda and his historic campaign win.

 


 

DNC CHAIR IN COLORADO

Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, visited Colorado on Tuesday as he makes his away across the U.S. with the 2020 election cycle kicking off.

He met with Colorado Democratic Party Chairwoman Morgan Carroll and others -- but in an interview with The Colorado Sun, he wouldn’t say with whom.

Here is some of what he did tell us:

  • “I look at the roadmap to victory (in 2020) and what you see across the country now is an emerging blue wall in the mountain West. It begins in Colorado, where Democrats had a great cycle in 2018. But as someone who lived here years ago, I understand that success can be fleeting. … Nobody will ever take Colorado for granted.”
  • “The DNC will not get involved that race and we will leave it to the voters to decide,” Perez said of the Crisanta Duran-Diana DeGette contest. “The voters in that district know best.”
  • On efforts to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, of Cortez: “I don’t speak for the DCCC, but I’m quite confident thats going to be a very, very important race moving forward for Democrats.”
  • “We already have a robust field and I expect it will get bigger,” on the 2020 presidential race and potential Democratic contenders from Colorado.

 


 

THE HICKENLOOPER AND BENNET CAMPAIGN DANCE

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is poised to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 with an announcement in the first week of March. And Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet is flirting with the idea, too.

Both men visited Iowa last week to try to galvanize the early state’s voters. But back home, the conversation is more focused on how the two men can run at the same time.

"I'm not going to try and point out where I'm better than he is, or where he's not sufficient," Hickenlooper told CPR about Bennet. "But we have different world views and different experiences... we're two distinct voices trying to make sense out of how do you bring this country back in the right direction, back together."

Here’s what you missed from the campaign trail:

  • Bennet declined to endorse the Green New Deal. "I'm not going to pass judgment one way or another on the Green New Deal,” he said at a house party in Iowa.
  • But Bennet -- who called himself a “pragmatic idealist” -- did say he would reverse Donald Trump’s tax cuts and create a public option for health insurance.
  • Hickenlooper appeared at the same event as Kamala Harris and Julian Castro, two announced candidates. The Post wrote: “Hickenlooper was starkly different than Harris and Castro. His speech was choppy and he used note cards. But it was friendly, peppered with jokes and his trademark policy accomplishments. If Saturday night’s dinner was a test for the future of his candidacy, he appeared to pass.”
  • Hickenlooper hired an Iowa organizer, Ferguson Yacyshyn, who was a field director for the losing Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate, AP reported. It is his second Iowa hire.

MORE: University of Denver’s Seth Masket is surveying early state activists on their presidential candidate preferences. Here’s what he’s found so far.

ALSO: President Donald Trump is making a play for Hispanic voters, Politico reports. And if he’s successful, it could put Colorado in play.

 


 

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

 

$3.4 million

-- The total spent in January by businesses, associations and other organizations on lobbying the Colorado General Assembly. The number is up from $3 million in the same month a year ago, according to state data.

MORE: Lobbying is a big business in Colorado. An analysis by The Sun estimated that $138 million was spent from July 2014 to December 2018 on lobbying. For the 2019 term, there are five lobbyists for every legislator. Here’s the story.

 


 

ALL EYES ON CORY GARDNER AND BORDER WALL

Democrats are expected to pass a resolution in the U.S. House to end Trump’s national emergency declaration. When that makes it to the Senate, all eyes will be on U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner and how he votes.

If Gardner joins other GOP senators, there will be enough votes to halt the declaration, forcing Trump into his first veto situation of his term. Gardner hasn’t said where he stands on the resolution, but it’s a tough political decision. The first-term Republican recently endorsed Trump’s 2020 presidential bid, but has to balance that with an increasingly blue Colorado.

“Congress is most appropriately situated to fund border security,” Gardner said in a written statement about the declaration. “... I’m currently reviewing the authorities the administration is using to declare a national emergency.”

MORE: U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Springs Republican, often sides with Donald Trump, but he is raising the alarm about the president’s plans to use military funds to build his border wall. The congressman’s district is home to a significant military presence and he is now the ranking GOP member on the House Armed Services Committee.

“We fear that reprogramming funding intended for military construction projects and counter-drug activities will come at the expense of troop readiness and department-wide efforts to address the military’s aging infrastructure,” Lamborn wrote in a letter to Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, along with the Democratic chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

 


 

#COPOLITICS NEWS FEED: What you need to read

// The debate about higher education spending is about to begin. Here’s what you need to know about the funding situation. And here are the stakes: Out-of-state students may soon reach the majority. (The Colorado Sun)

// Coal-fired power plants are closing and lawmakers want to ease towns’ tough transition. (The Colorado Sun)

// The debate about the national popular vote in Colorado won’t end with Gov. Jared Polis’ signature. (The Colorado Sun)

// Colorado Politics’ Joey Bunch on his near-death health scare. (Colorado Politics)

// Colorado House endorses disclosure of police internal affairs reports. (CFOIC)

// Thousands of deleted emails from Hickenlooper administration are recovered. (KOAA-TV)

// Colorado firms win awards for their political ads. (Colorado Politics)

// Colorado Democrats want to limit where federal immigration officials can operate in the state. What will Gov. Jared Polis say? (CPR)

// Should U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet run for president, there would be impacts to … The New York Times editorial board. Bennet’s brother, James, leads the page. (Vanity Fair)

// Speaking of Bennet, he has one big name paying attention to his exploration of a run for the Oval Office: President Barack Obama. (ABC News)

// U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner was “livid” with the White House over its handling of the Jamal Khashoggi murder. (Politico)

// U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, an Arvada Democrat, is getting some national attention for his efforts to allow for marijuana banking. (NJ.com)

// The “Fab Five” women in Colorado legislature get national exposure. (NBC News)

// How to interpret the shifts in Democratic ideology. (Gallup)

Copyright © 2019 The Colorado Sun, All rights reserved.


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