TCL - An Open Letter to CBA Members

TCL > September 1998 Issue > An Open Letter to CBA Members

The Colorado Lawyer
September 1998
Vol. 27, No. 9 [Page 21]

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An Open Letter to CBA Members

The November 3 general election will soon be here. All of the primary races are concluded, and we now know who all the candidates are for the upcoming election. This letter is an open invitation to urge each CBA member to be more aware and possibly more involved with the people who determine this state's legislative policy.

Following this letter is a list of the finalists for the state house and senate races, including the counties that are in each district. For particular information on which house or senate district you live in, please contact Michael Valdez, CBA Director of Legislative Relations, at (303) 860-1115 or (800) 332-6736. As mentioned above, we urge members to become more politically active.

Any time a bill comes up that would affect the legal community, CBA members have a variety of ways to influence the legislative process. Our first line of communication or defense is directly through our lobbyist, Michael Valdez. Our second line is through one of our Section or Committee representatives, either one-on-one over a lunch meeting or in a committee hearing or outside the house or senate chambers. With the press of business at the legislature, explaining the impact of legislation or asking for amendments in the hallway is not the most reliable and certainly not the preferred method to communicate CBA positions. Our last, and some would argue most effective, way is through you, our members, directly contacting your individual legislator.

We want to establish a comprehensive network of legislative contacts with each legislator from his or her own community ("district"). This network of grass roots contacts is critically important if we are to be effective at the state legislature. We are not "players" in the campaign contribution or PAC sense; we have to make up for that in our personal relationships with the legislators. Our members are campaign volunteers, block workers, personal friends, classmates, lawyers—some are even contributors to legislative races. These are the people who can get through to a legislator by telephone. Legislators will pay a lot more attention to a telephone call, letter, fax, or e-mail from a neighbor—someone who shops at the same grocery store or mall or someone who they see at baseball or soccer games—than they will to any lobbyist. It is a tried-and-true fact. You are the people to whom legislators are most accountable.

Big Change

Because of term limits, this year's election promises to bring many new faces to the statehouse. This is a unique opportunity to get in on the "ground floor" with the new people. It is true that term limits throw out some of the good with some of the bad; the sword cuts both ways. Term limits will impact the process as well. Gone will be the twenty-four-year, twelve-term veteran who knows every trick of the trade and has that all-important institutional memory.

Another twist to the upcoming election will be the impact of campaign finance reform. Limits on the amounts that PACs and individuals can contribute have forced candidates to ask for money from a broader spectrum of the community. A campaign contribution of $25, $50, or $100 goes a great deal farther than you might think.

A Final Thought

Please get involved regardless of whether you do so for the CBA. You are a constituent of your legislators, a constituent who also happens to be a lawyer who also happens to know a little about the law. You can be a great resource for your legislators. In the process, you become a terrific ambassador for the profession and the CBA. If legislators have questions, you can educate. Most likely they will call you on "legal" questions and not the sensitive hot-button "political" questions—but you never know. The fact that they call will be most important.

Contact with legislators and their willingness to listen to the concerns of lawyers will not only help legislators do their job better, but it also has the effect of helping build a conduit through which your bar association can communicate its policy to the General Assembly.

Sincerely,

Ben Aisenberg		Bart Mendenhall		Rebecca Koppes Conway
CBA President		CBA President-Elect		CBA Immediate Past President

1998 SENATE CANDIDATES

District 1 (Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld, Yuma)
Marilyn Musgrave (R)
Sue Jarrett (D)

District 2 (Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, El Paso, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Otero, Prowers)
Mark Hillman (R)
John R. Stulp (D)

District 3 (Pueblo)
Vera Ortegon (R)
William "Bill" Thiebaut, Jr. (D)

District 5 (Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Custer, Huerfano, Las Animas, Mineral, Pueblo, Rio Grande, Saguache)
Gigi Dennis (R)
John W. Singletary (D)

District 6 (Archuleta, Delta, Dolores, La Plata, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, San Juan, San Miguel)
Jasper Welch (R)
Jim Dyer (D)

District 7 (Mesa)
Ronald J. Teck (R)
Pete Hautzinger (D)

District 9 (El Paso)
Douglas L. Lamborn (R)

District 11 (El Paso)
Mary Ellen Epps (R)
Daphne Greenwood (D)

District 13 (Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Jefferson, Summit)
Tony Grampsas (R)
Marsha Osborn (D)

District 15 (Larimer)
Kevin Lundberg (R)
Stan Matsunaka (D)

District 16 (Weld)
Dave Owen (R)

District 20 (Jefferson)
Jerry DiTullio (R)
Edwin "Ed" G. Perlmutter (D)

District 22 (Jefferson)
Norma Anderson (R)
Ginny Knott (D)

District 24 (Adams)
Dave Custer (R)
Alice J. Nichol (D)

District 30 (Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert, Jefferson)
John Evans (R)
Barbara O'Grady (D)

District 32 (Denver)
Jeanne Faatz (R)
Pat Pascoe (D)

District 34 (Denver)
Robert "Rob" M. Hernandez (D)

1998 HOUSE CANDIDATES

District 1 (Denver)
Frank "Mac" A. McGregor (R)
Fran Coleman (D)

District 2 (Denver)
Gloria Leyba (D)

District 3 (Arapahoe, Denver)
Ted Sell (R)
Jennifer Veiga (D)

District 4 (Denver)
Frana Araujo Mace (D)

District 5 (Denver)
Dave Sprecace (R)
Nolbert D. Chavez (D)

District 6 (Arapahoe, Denver)
Dan Grossman (D)

District 7 (Adams, Denver)
Ben Clarke (D)

District 8 (Denver)
Robert E. McRae (R)
Penfield Tate, III (D)

District 9 (Arapahoe, Denver)
Doug Anderson (R)
Ken Gordon (D)

District 10 (Arapahoe, Denver)
Dorothy Gotlieb (R)
Dana Petersen (D)

District 11 (Boulder)
David Savitt (R)
Todd Saliman (D)

District 12 (Boulder)
William G. Swenson (R)
Bill Van Dusen (D)

District 13 (Boulder)
Drew Bolin (R)
Tom Plant (D)

District 14 (Boulder)
Charles King (R)
Ron Tupa (D)

District 15 (El Paso)
Ron J. May (R)

District 16 (El Paso)
William D. Sinclair (R)
A. Mark Entrekin (D)

District 17 (El Paso)
Andy McElhany (R)

District 18 (El Paso)
Doug Dean (R)
Ben W. Miller (D)

District 19 (El Paso)
Richard D. Decker (R)
Ray "Doc" L. Trouillion (D)

District 20 (Douglas, El Paso)
Lynn Hefley (R)
Tina Routhier (D)

District 21 (El Paso)
Keith C. King (R)
Sandra J. Baker (D)

District 22 (El Paso)
Marcy Morrison (R)
Shawn Yocum-Alford (D)

District 23 (Jefferson)
Penn Pfiffner (R)
Kelley Daniel (D)

District 24 (Jefferson)
Quinn Wilhelm (R)
Maryanne M. Keller (D)

District 25 (Jefferson)
John Witwer (R)
Donald G. Parker (D)

District 26 (Jefferson)
Scott D. McKay (R)
Betty Boyd (D)

District 27 (Jefferson)
Denise Mund (R)
Sue Windels (D)

District 28 (Jefferson)
Don Lee (R)
Jerry Q. Clayton (D)

District 29 (Jefferson)
Mark Paschall (R)
Steve Klausing (D)

District 30 (Jefferson)
Rob Fairbank (R)
E.C. Garthe (D)

District 31 (Adams, Boulder, Weld)
Pam Rhodes (R)
Paul Zimmerman (D)

District 32 (Adams)
David Borstel (R)
Valentin J. Vigil (D)

District 33 (Adams)
Shawn Mitchell (R)
Larry G. Karsten (D)

District 34 (Adams)
Kathi Williams (R)
Lois Tochtrop (D)

District 35 (Adams)
Wendy Lofton (R)
Ann F. Ragsdale (D)

District 36 (Adams)
Jack Fish (R)
Stephanie Takis (D)

District 37 (Arapahoe)
Lauri Clapp (R)
Wendy Band (D)

District 38 (Arapahoe, Jefferson)
Joe Stengel (R)
Diana Holland (D)

District 39 (Arapahoe)
Nancy Spence (R)
Theodore Fritschel (D)

District 40 (Arapahoe)
Gary McPherson (R)
Angie Wood (D)

District 41 (Arapahoe)
Lynn Meyers (R)
Suzanne Williams (D)

District 42 (Arapahoe)
William J. Wiggins (R)
Bob Hagedorn (D)

District 43 (Arapahoe)
Debbie Allen (R)

District 44 (Custer, Fremont, Pueblo, Teller)
Lola Spradley (R)
Vic Meyers (D)

District 45 (Pueblo)
Joyce Lawrence (R)
Linda M. Sena (D)

District 46 (Pueblo)
Abel J. Tapia (D)

District 47 (Baca, Bent, Crowley, Huerfano, Las Animas, Otero, Pueblo)
Kenneth Kester (R)
Bill Durland (D)

District 48 (Weld)
Ron Buxman (R)
Carol Burkhart (D)

District 49 (Larimer, Weld)
Steve Johnson (R)
Daniel "Dan" W. Dean (D)

District 50 (Weld)
Tambor Williams (R)
Warren LaSell (D)

District 51 (Larimer)
William G. Kaufman (R)

District 52 (Larimer)
Steve Tool (R)

District 53 (Larimer)
Tom Bender (R)
Bob Bacon (D)

District 54 (Delta, Mesa)
Matt Smith (R)

District 55 (Mesa)
Gayle Berry (R)

District 56 (Eagle, Garfield, Grand, Jackson, Routt)
Jack Taylor (R)
James Johnson (D)

District 57 (Garfield, Moffat, Pitkin, Rio Blanco)
Russell George (R)

District 58 (Delta, Dolores, Montezuma, Montrose)
Kay Alexander (R)

District 59 (Archuleta, La Plata, Montezuma, San Juan)
Mark Larson (R)
Julie Cooley (D)

District 60 (Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Huerfano)
Terry Smith (R)
Al Gagliardi (D)

District 61 (Chaffee, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Lake, Mineral, Park, Pitkin, Rio Grande, Saguache)
Marshall Boyd (R)
Carl Miller (D)

District 62 (Clear Creek, Gilpin, Jefferson, Summit)
Bryan S. Sullivant (R)
Jack J. Woehr (D)

District 63 (Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Elbert, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Prowers, Yuma)
Brad Young (R)

District 64 (Douglas)
Joe Nunez (R)
Jerri L. Hill (D)

District 65 (Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington)
Don Ament (R)
Debbie Carlstrom (R)

© 1998 The Colorado Lawyer and Colorado Bar Association. All Rights Reserved. Material from The Colorado Lawyer provided via this World Wide Web server is protected by the copyright laws of the United States and may not be reproduced in any way or medium without permission. This material also is subject to the disclaimers at http://www.cobar.org/tcl/disclaimer.cfm?year=1998.

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