This just in: Old favorites, up-and-comers and total randoms vie for Secretary of State post
Political reporting can be a little dry sometimes, but this is the kind of story we live for. Twenty Coloradans from all walks of life have submitted applications to become Colorado's next Secretary of State. The spot opened up after current officeholder Mike Coffman's election to represent Colorado's 6th Congressional District in Congress. Gov. Bill Ritter, always one to surprise, decided against the safe (and, let's face it, boring) choice of just appointing a fellow Democrat to the post.
Other media outlets will offer up a bland run-down of the applicants, but you know better than to expect that kind of treatment from us here at Face The State. Fresh from the governor's office, by way of a FTS open-records request, we're pleased to provide PDF copies of all 20 applications, plus a down-and-dirty examination of each hopeful's credentials.
For more on the applicants and Ritter's curiously crafted appointment process, watch Fox 31 news tonight at 9 pm and catch FTS Managing Editor Brad Jones on "Good Day Colorado" Wednesday morning at 8:45.
Plus: Vote in our online survey as to your favorite for Colorado's top elections post. Now, drum roll please...in reverse alphabetical order (why do the A's always get top billing?), we present the brave souls who applied to be your next Secretary of State.
Heavy-hitting referencesJoseph Poche's application
John Hamilton Works, Jr. (PDF of application)
John Hamilton Works, Jr. has been a corporate executive, investment banker and lawyer. Now he’s attempting a transition to politics. Works has perhaps the most impressive resume of the bunch, with a current gig as President and CEO of Rancher Energy Corp. Our question: Will his experience in the oil and gas industry help or hurt his chances? Yeah, that's rhetorical.
Dan Willis (PDF of application)
Democrat gadfly Dan Willis's political experience includes a long list of grassroots activism. He has served as a consultant to Mike Cerbo, former lawmaker and AFL-CIO executive director, and is a former campaign staffer for Congresswoman Diana DeGette, who represents Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. While Willis might think this is his opportunity to step into the spotlight, we’d rather he continue annoying us from the sidelines.
James Tindall (PDF of application)
Sixty-two year old James A. Tindall "travels too much" to list a home telephone number and is registered as an unafilliated voter. He served a stint in the U.S. Army and, according to his personal statement, has "a knack for generating trust and building alliances."
Theresa Smith (PDF of application)
"My employment has been varied," Smith writes. One of the few Republican candidates, Smith has a diverse work history including time in the military and a current post as a financial analyst. But now, she's ready to govern. "My varied experience in the corporate world...and my professional and business degrees provide the framework for me to be able to make a success of the job of Secretary of State," she writes. One qualification that sets her above the rest: Smith is current president of the Colorado Balloon Club.
Andrew Romanoff (PDF of application)
Even though Romanoff played coy about wanting the job, it was no surprise to see the Democrat Golden Boy and term-limited House Speaker submit an application with a nauseatingly long list of “Honors." The surprise, however, was his list of references, which includes three prominent Republican lawmakers: Sen. Steve Johnson of Fort Collins, Rep. Rob Witwer of Genesee and Rep. Tom Massey of Poncha Springs. Witwer allowed Romanoff to list him as a reference, saying if the new Secretary of State has to be a Democrat, Mr. Speaker is his pick. “My top choice would be [Scott] Gessler because he’s a Republican,” Witwer said, “but he didn’t ask me to be a reference.”
Rosemary Rodriguez (PDF of application)
Liberal activist alert! An extreme partisan activist, Rodriguez led the failed 2002 campaign for same-day voter registration. She has served on the Board of Directors for both Colorado Common Cause, a liberal voter rights group, and the Bell Policy Center, a liberal think-tank. Rodriguez is a former president of the Denver City Council and now serves as a commissioner on the federal Election Assistance Commission.
Scott Primeau (PDF of application)
This 27-year old unaffiliated voter already works in the Colorado Department of State as a policy analyst. Primeau's notable honors include being the 2002 Indiana University Men's Lacrosse most improved player and making the Dean's List Fall and Spring Semesters of 2001-2002. Maybe one day soon he can add "Most Improved Secretary of State" to his list of accomplishments.
Joseph Poche (PDF of application)
This old fashioned application was fun to read. Poche's resume and personal statment are hand written on graph paper, and he lists former presidential candidate Ross Perot as one of his references. Poche's resume includes 19 years of employment at Perot's Electronic Data Systems, so we suggest Ritter do his due diligence and give the former presidential contender a call about his loyal former employee, Mr. Poche.
Cary McMinn (PDF of application)
This application perplexes us because McMinn didn't provide any information about who she is or what she does. Calls to her office in Fort Morgan, while not returned, reveal she is a registered architect.
Anthony Sean Martinez (PDF of application)
When applying for a new job, it's probably not advisable to list your competition as a reference, but that is exactly what Anthony Sean Martinez did. It is also customary to ask people before using them as a reference. Martinez lists Sen. Ken Gordon and Rep. Andrew Romanoff, both applicants themselves, as references. Romanoff is a relatively graciious guy, but we'd guess that's a stretch even for him.
Jessica Dosser Lovingier (PDF of application)
The Gilpin County Clerk and Recorder, a Republican, is serving her second term in office, and says she's the youngest person ever to be elected to that position in all of Colorado. "I come to you [Ritter] as a clerk of a small county," Lovingier writes. From those humble roots, why not leapfrog all the way to state-wide office? After all, "youngest" politicos have fared well in Colorado, before: think youngest-ever state Senator Bob Schaffer, who later served three terms in Congress. If Ritter is serious about making good on his promise of making a "non-partisan" appointment, Lovingier may be a solid pick. She even makes a direct appeal to Ritter's party-blindness: "This position shouldn't be about party affiliation, gender or age," she writes. "This position is about the individual, what they have accomplished and what they can bring to the office of Secretary of State." One possible complication: Will her lack of a college diploma put her at a disadvantage against a slew of high-profile lawyers?
Claudia P. Kuhns (PDF of application)
Kuhns is a "self employed...business insurance consultant." But who cares about that? She's also a "certified iyengar yoga teacher," and in that capacity provides therapeutic rehab services to veterans with traumatic brain injuries. How cool is that? But this is a political job, and Kuhns is no stranger to Colorado politics. She serves as executive director of the Public Integrity Project, which has been rattling the cage at the Secretary of State's office, most recently over the certification process involving the state's various electronic voting systems.
Sherry Lynn Jackson (PDF of application)
Alert, alert! Sherry Lynn Jackson is about as political as they come. She's the executive director of the Colorado Democratic Party, and before that held an administrative position with U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar's campaign. Anyone taking bets on how well Ms. Jackson would be able to set aside her partisanship? No, really. Stop laughing.
Aaron Paul Harber (PDF of application)
When we first saw Harber's application, our first thought was: publicity stunt. After all, Harber is frontman for his well known local TV show seen weekly on Denver's KBDI 12. But at 15 pages, his is one of the longest - and most detailed - applications in the stack. He really wants the job. What does he bring to the table? "The combination of interest, commitment, expertise, knowledge, and experience," he writes. Oh, and screen time.
Josh Hanfling (PDF of application)
Add Josh Hanfling to the list of Democrat candidates rebuked at the ballot box but still itching for public office. The self-described Denver " small businessman and philanthropist" ran this year for the Democrat nomination in a heated - and expensive - primary for House District 6. In a note to supporters on his now-mothballed campaign Web site, Hanfling promises "our voices will not go silent or our message fail to be heard." Unconventional and well known for his ties to Cherry Creek's nightlife, he might just spice up an office too bogged down by lawyers and accountants. Forget a fresh run in 2010, he's ready for action now. While he may know how to throw one hell of a victory party, he remains a long shot.
Ken Gordon (PDF of application)
Political insiders know Ken Gordon as the goofy state Senator who donned a sombrero, jumped out of an airplane, and SCUBA dived for TV and web ads in his attempt to sex up his 2006 unsuccessful bid for Secretary of State. (View the video, here.) But, alas, voters didn't buy it, and Gordon had to settle for serving out his term as state Senate majority leader. But Gordon is term-limited, and in search for a job. Normally, we'd write off an "also-ran" for appointment, but Gov. Bill Ritter, if nothing else, is a man full of surprises. Should Gordon prevail, be on the lookout for same-day voter registration and even looser rules on voter ID.
Scott Gessler (PDF of application)
Bill Ritter says he's willing to look past partisanship in making his appointment. So we'll suspend disbelief for a moment and assume Scott Gessler's status as GOP go-to election lawyer won't immediately disqualify him. In the spirit of bipartisanship, his listed references - three former Republican Secretaries of State - shouldn't hurt, either. Or his representation of Face The State in an ongoing lawsuit conveniently titled Brad Jones v. Bill Ritter. No, these things won't hurt his candidacy one bit. In our totally objective opinion, Gessler is the top GOP contender for 2010, when we hope he'll challenge whichever Democrat Ritter inevitably picks.
John "Jay" Fawcett, Jr. (PDF of application)
This Democrat from Colorado Springs was the party’s throwaway candidate against U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn in 2006. Clearly getting trounced did not deter him from pursuing a career in politics. Fawcett gets an "A" for effort.
John Hughes Clough (PDF of application)
This Littleton attorney submitted the cover letter of his application yesterday, promising to submit the rest via e-mail. Ritter’s office, however, tells us they've yet to receive any additional materials from this most mysterious applicant.
Bernard (Bernie) Buescher (PDF of application)
Lame-duck Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, needs a job. Now. It's no fun losing an election, especially when you're the presumptive next speaker of the state House and you're toppled by an upstart, dark-horse Republican candidate in a colossal upset. Rep.-elect Laura Bradford pulled off that electoral coup in part by successfully hanging an unpopular statewide tax increase around Buescher's neck. It just happens to be that 2007 tax hike, challenged in court by the Mesa County Commissioners, among others, is the pride of none other than Gov. Bill Ritter. Buescher put his career on the line for Ritter and paid for it with his seat at the Capitol. Buescher is a serious contender, if for no other reason than state Democrats' desire to keep him on the political scene and soften the blow from the shellacking he took on Nov. 4.