That’s what supporters of Colorado HD 23 incumbent Rep. Max Tyler say, anyway.

Sometime late Friday night, dozens of Tyler signs disappeared in NW Lakewood. Funny thing is, some say that the neighborhood filled that night with signs from his opponent, Republican Edgar Johansson, many of those going up illegally in public right of ways.

Johansson says he knows nothing of such activities. “If my people even consider doing that, I would tell them not to do it,” he says.

One of the people who lost a sign does blame Johansson or at least his supporters, saying it was strange to drive through the neighborhood and see all the Tyler signs missing while at the same time seeing lots of new Johansson signs. She said it is not the first time Tyler’s signs had vanished from the neighborhood.

“I am insulted to think that folks would be so low as to remove signs, and then do it more than once. It speaks to a lack of integrity and respect for others and their property,” said Tyler supporter Pamela Rouse.

“It really makes you wonder about all the talk regarding protecting the Constitution. So much for freedom of expression—I mean, a simple sign, really?”

There is nothing much anyone can do about missing signs. Signs on public property, though, are another story. Those are illegal. If you see signs in rights of ways or other public places, you can call enforcement officers and if they have time, they will come and get them.

Julian Zsako, with Denver’s community planning and development department, said candidate signs in public areas are illegal and that campaigns can be fined, though they seldom are.

“It’s a safety issue,” he said. “Motorists need to be attentive to regulatory signs, to other cars and to pedestrians. They don’t need to be distracted by campaign signs.”

To complain about signs,

In Denver, call 311
In Arvada, call 720-898-7465
In Golden, call 303-384-8010
In Lakewood, call 303-987-7566
In Wheat Ridge, call 303-235-2847
For signs in State Highway rights of way, call 303-757-9514

The code enforcement officials we spoke with, said they do respond to complaints and will also picks signs up even without a complaint, if they see them.

Edgar Johansson

In papers filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, Johansson reports he lives in a condominium on 11th Street, in Golden. The 921-square-foot unit is owned by Peter and Janet Reyelts, who also live in Golden, according to county records. Peter Reyelts confirmed that Johansson had moved into the unit on October 27, 2009.

The electronic keypad directory for the building shows no one named Johansson as a resident.

Public records indicate that Johansson has owned a house in Denver on Humboldt Street since 2003. On a visit to the house, a tenant said that Johansson had moved out in October in order to establish residency in HD 23. Johansson has not returned multiple phone calls.

Johansson’s resume on LinkedIn says he is director of business development at RedCanyon Engineering & Software in Denver.

He worked for the governor’s office under Bill Owens as Director-Asia and as the Space Liaison. According to his campaign website, Johansson “advanced Colorado companies’ ability to export goods and services into the Asian market. Concurrently I worked as the space liaison, creating an integral relationship with the Colorado aerospace community.”

He is currently the chairman of the board of the Colorado Space Business Roundtable. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Denver.

Tyler was appointed to the seat by a vacancy committee. He had been chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Party for several years prior to the appointment. As a Legislator, he has been known for his leadership on environmental issues.

The Colorado Constitution says that a person must have lived within a district for 12 months prior to being elected to office. The election is November 2, so Johansson would have been required to live in the district since November 2, 2009 to be qualified for office.

According to Secretary of State Bernie Buescher’s public information officer, Rich Coolidge, Johansson registered to vote at the Golden address on October 28, 2009. In order to register, Coolidge said, he would have needed to provide some proof of residency, such as a driver’s license, passport, or utility bill.

According to reports filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, Johansson raised just under $6000 in the first quarter of 2010, with the vast majority of the money coming from outside of District 23. For the same period, Tyler raised just over $25,000.

Colorado Democratic Party communications director Grace Lopez Ramirez said the Democrats “absolutely never” encourage anyone to move in order to run for office from a district they don’t already live in. The Colorado Republican party did not return phone calls. Rep. Tyler did not return phones calls or an email.

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Senate President Peter Groff’s surprise resignation to lead faith-based education initiatives in the Obama Administration was just the fourth of at least six dominoes to fall in the State Legislature since the 2008 election.

While insiders typically consider former lawmakers and local party operatives to have the inside track on vacancy slots, the selection of high school principal Johnston further calls into question that conventional wisdom. He is one of three newly appointed legislators with no previous experience as an elected public official.

Republican state Rep. Kevin Lundberg of Berthoud was tapped to replace state Sen. Steve Johnson, who resigned after winning election as a Larimer County commissioner. A vacancy committee then picked B.J. Nikkel, a Loveland Republican, to take Lundberg’s place. In March, the House District 3 vacancy committee selected Cherry Hills Village Democrat Daniel Kagan to fill the term of state Rep. Anne McGihon, who resigned because of increased demands from a legal and lobbying job.

A vacancy committee meets May 20 to pick a replacement for State Sen. Jennifer Veiga, a Democrat who represents Senate District 31 in northwest Denver. Veiga announced in April she would be leaving at the end of the session to move to Australia to help care for her partner’s ailing mother.

Democratic state Rep. Gwyn Green of Lakewood announced last month she planned to relinquish her House District 23 seat because of health issues.

Two other Democrats, state Sen. Jim Isgar of Durango and state Rep. Karen Middleton of Aurora, have both said they’ve applied for federal jobs, so might also create vacancies.

Two Republicans, Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry of Grand Junction and state Sen. Cory Gardner of Yuma, could step down before the Legislature reconvenes in January because of conflicts with their political aspirations. Penry is a likely candidate for governor and Gardner announced last week he wants to oust U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey, a Fort Collins Democrat. State law forbids legislators from raising campaign funds while the Legislature is in session.

Last year, Senate President Joan FitzGerald, a Golden Democrat, stepped down -– elevating Groff to the upper chamber’s leadership position — so she could campaign for the 2nd Congressional District seat eventually won by U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat.

(Photo/Jason Kosena)

It’s as clear as the Western Skies: Nonprofit 501(c)4s are the new 527s of the Colorado political scene, the latest way that shadowy special interest groups are tapping into seemingly unlimited undisclosed special interest cash to attack or support candidates who can further their agendas. Take, for instance, the Western Skies Coalition, a conservative group claiming to be a 501(c)4 nonprofit dedicated to “promoting issues that make our nation great.”

Though it has yet to show up as actually registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a nonprofit, Western Skies claims ex-Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, a former oil and gas lobbyist and founder of the 2006 notorious but now-defunct 527 political committee, Trailhead Group, as a member of its executive committee.

This campaign cycle, the group has been sponsoring TV ads portraying Republican state Senate candidates such as incumbent Shawn Mitchell (R-Broomfield) as renewable energy advocates despite voting records to the contrary. Western Skies-sponsored ads have also appeared to boost Republican state Senate candidate Libby Szabo, who is running against Democrat Evie Hudak in the northern Jefferson County race, targeted by both parties, to replace Democrat Sue Windels.

In the 2006 election cycle, 527 groups — so-called for the IRS tax code section that governs their operations — emerged in full force as political tools used by both Democratic and Republican special interests to utilize unlimited cash to support or attack candidates and causes while bypassing federal contribution limits in a cloak of secrecy.

After the bruising 2006 election cycle, state Rep. Morgan Carroll (D-Aurora) targeted 527s, pushing through a law requiring they disclose their donors. Now the money is shifting to a new loophole, 501(c)4 nonprofits, By law, (c)4′s — as they are already being called for short — must spend a majority of their funding promoting social causes and less than half their money on political advocacy.

“If they just registered, they could in theory spend $2 million in the next couple of months completely on political activities and the rest of the year spend $2 million and $1 on social welfare activities and therefore their primary purpose was social welfare activities,” said Chantell Taylor, director of Colorado Ethics Watch. “They’re really frustrating to nail down.”

As the Colorado Independent reported earlier this week, state Sen. Josh Penry (R-Fruita) is reported to be a top organizer behind Western Skies, a top-dollar (c)4 that is soliciting funds from oil and gas companies with operations in Colorado and Wyoming with the intent to reinstate Republicans as the power majority in the state senate by 2010. Penry, considered an up-and-coming Republican leader from the oil and gas-rich Western Slope, has not returned several calls and e-mails seeking clarification of his involvement with Western Skies.

“Josh Penry has been raising money from oil and gas companies for this effort and the spending is focused on electing Republican candidates in the Senate,” says Carrie Doyle, the executive director of the environmental group Colorado Conservation Voters. “So, the assumption is the goal is to claim a Republican majority in the state Senate.

“The irony is that this is oil and gas money being used to talk about how these candidates stand for clean energy when their voting records are anything but.”

Other observers, including Rep. Carroll, agree the intent of Western Skies appears clear: By 2010, Republican Party activists in Colorado have expressed the intent to retake control of the state Senate — and potentially the House of Representatives. Specifically, state GOP party Chairman Dick Wadhams has publicly expressed his plan that Republicans expect to make modest gains this year, but are pinning their hopes on a majority takeover by 2010.

As far as Western Skies’ nonprofit charitable activities, Carroll said that she would like to know what nonpolitical function the group serves. It is unclear from the group’s Web site. None of the principles listed as organizers of the organization have returned multiple phone calls seeking clarity this week. Legally, 501(c)4s must channel at least 51 percent of their funds toward charitable donations. No more than 49 percent can be used for strictly political purposes.

It is also unclear which specific companies or individuals have contributed funds to Western Skies to benefit specific GOP candidates or its other charitable activities, but Carroll spoke in blunt terms about why many oil and gas companies and industry interests operating in Colorado are so keen about wanting Republicans back in charge.

“They had virtually the run of state government for 40 years of Republican rule, and when Democrats took over we hurt them and hit them and their obscene profit margin,” Carroll said. “If providing a large influx of cash elects the people they want elected, then they will get carte blanche and go back to do what they want.”

Specifically, since taking control of the legislature in 2004, and the governor’s office two years ago, Colorado Democrats have enacted legislation at odds with the monopoly that oil and gas interests prospered under four decades of largely largely unencumbered Republican majority rule. For example, environmentalists and other interested parties have subsequently been appointed to the state’s oil and gas advisory commission, and have been met with great resistance and criticism from oil and gas special interests, particularly when it comes to a stricter set of regulations to mitigate environmental impacts.

Which leads Carroll to provide the following clarity to the motivations behind efforts to reinstate the old way of doing business:

“It’s cheaper to spend an ass-pile of money to win these elections with relative anonymity and reap the profits down the road,” she said.

After the rise of 527 groups who spent much of 2006 attacking both Democratic and Republican candidates, Carroll successfully pushed through a law requiring 527s to disclose their donors. Now operating under the auspices of the charitable 501c(4)s, organizations like Western Skies are protected from such donor disclosure requirements. However, several sources say that oil and gas interests are behind the funding of this group.

“Part of what’s so offensive is these groups appear to be trying to avoid disclosure — and using a legal apparatus to mask themselves and distance themselves from their true agenda,” Carroll said. “Trying to deceive voters is a problem for the whole system — we have a right to know who they are.”

Meanwhile, State Sen. Mitchell, who voted several times against legislation aimed at mandating increases in Colorado’s renewable energy portfolio, is currently being portrayed in a Western Skies ad as a champion of alternative power sources.

Mitchell did not return calls and e-mails seeking clarification this week about his current position on renewables, but his Democratic opponent, Joe Whitcomb, voiced his concern about the disingenuous and anonymous commercials, noting, however, that they can cut both ways.

“All they end up doing is canceling one another out and then it just ends up being up the candidates and the efforts that they exert, knocking on doors, fund-raising, going to events to persuade people, but that’s not to say [the ads are] not effective. They can be extremely effective,” Whitcomb said.

In the July 30, 2004 Denver Post, columnist Diana Carman shined light on the “research” Promark was supposedly conducting:

Scott Helker, a financial planner and registered Republican, was working in his home office last week when he got a call from someone doing a survey. He answered the questions, which seemed aimed at measuring attitudes in the state House District 23 race between incumbent Republican Ramey Johnson and Democrat Gwen Green. And then the caller asked, “Do you know Gwen Green makes anti-Catholic statements?”

Helker was stunned. “I happen to know Gwen,” Helker said. So he asked the caller what those anti-Catholic statements were. “They never replied.”

Even more ironic, Green is quoted by Carmen saying she’s been “an active Catholic all my life.”

Carmen followed up on August 8th, 2004, reveling in her column that the Promark Research push poll accusing Gwen Green of making “anti-Catholic” statements was bought and paid for by the House Majority Fund, LLC — a Republican group. 

While in some places, Promark’s spokespeople have embraced their role in the push polls, Carmen quotes Russ Parker, Promark’s executive vice president, claiming “We’re not involved in designing the survey or analyzing the data”. 

It’s hard to imagine how scientific a poll could really be if the research firm conducting it does not help design or analyze the survey.

Green went on to win her 2004 race for House District 23 by only 41 votes, and is being heavily targeted by the Republicans this election cycle.  Already, reports of push polls against Green are surfacing as she seeks re-election.

On Tueday, Republican Johnson was one of the few “moderate” Republicans to make it out of the primary, defeating Pat Holloway 60%-40%.

The JCEA supports Green, saying she’s a friend of public education.  The JCEA also lets their money do the talking, giving $2,000 to Green.  No money was found being donated to Johnson–which may be a blessing.

In the southwest suburbs of Denver to that of Senate District 22, which is geographically close to House District 23, Primary night saw Kiki Traylor lose to Mike Kopp by less then 100 votes. 

Traylor’s loss could be the result from shenanigans surrounding her failure to report $3,000 worth of donations from teachers union’s PACs.  Mike Kopp, her Republican primary opponent, bested Traylor by only 75 votes on Tuesday, and was a vocal opponent of teachers unions and support of vouchers.  He also campaigned against Tryalor because of her support for public schools.

Traylor was called “a friend of public education” by the JCEA as well.

So here you have geographically close districts with Republican Johnson, trying to illustrate her Public Education credentials.  Just down the road, you have Republican Kopp beating Traylor because of his opposition to public education.

One of the top three most highly-contested seats in Colorado in 2006 is in House District 23 (Golden, Lakewood), where the voter registration numbers are almost evenly divided among Republicans, Democrats and Unaffiliated voters; this seat is so competitive, in fact, that it has switched hands every two years for the past decade. In 2004, Democrat Gwyn Green beat then-incumbent Republican Ramey Johnson by just 48 votes in a race that was so close that ballots were still being recount more than a week after the election.
Johnson is back

The dagger in the heart of Johnson’s campaign came from two high-profile Republicans –- former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer and well-known Republican donor Alex Cranberg — who wanted to punish Johnson because she didn’t support school vouchers. Mailings went out just before the end of the election that were critical of Johnson, and were it not for that last-minute maneuver, she may have held on to her seat.

Johnson is running again in 2006, but this time she faces a Republican primary with former Jefferson County Commissioner Pat Holloway, and the attacks against Johnson are continuing from familiar sources. As The Denver Post reported:

Former Rep. Ramey Johnson said school voucher supporters Alex Cranberg and former Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer were using a “phony” community newspaper called “Common Sense for Jefferson County” to attack her stance on school choice.

In 2004, Schaffer sent a letter to voters in Johnson’s District 10 days before the election, she said, criticizing her vote against a school voucher program, saying she was “refusing to put children first.”

Johnson lost that race by 48 votes to Democratic Rep. Gwyn Green. Johnson and some Republicans privately blamed Cranberg and Schaffer for costing the party the seat and, in part, control of the House.

This year, the March and June issues of Common Sense carried a story that says, “Johnson routinely sided with Democrats to thwart Republican school-choice initiatives” and has since flip-flopped on the issue. She said she has not changed her position. Johnson said she was not surprised by the article because “at this point, it’s a vendetta.”

Cranberg and Schaffer are strong voucher proponents because they believe that parents should be allowed to use their tax dollars to pay for a school of their choice. They believe that parents shouldn’t have to fund what they view as failing public schools if they want to spend money to send their children to a private school.

On the other side, one of the main arguments against vouchers are that they can’t possibly provide enough incentive for low-income families to move their children to better performing schools; a $1,500 voucher isn’t going to be enough to allow a low-income family to move their child to a $10,000-a-year private school, for example.

That may no longer be the best argument against vouchers anymore, however. A report that came out two weeks ago –- which didn’t get much publicity -– shows that public school students actually outperform private school students in most subjects. The report doesn’t come from some public-school happy organization, either; it comes right from the Department of Education, whose leaders under President Bush have made no secret of their love for private schools and the idea of voucher-like programs.

As the New York Times summarized on July 18:

That report examined test scores of 700,000 fourth and eighth graders at public schools and those of 25,000 private school students. It found that when students of like economic, racial and family backgrounds were compared, public school students did as well as or better than those in private school in fourth grade reading and math and in eighth grade math. The exception was eighth grade reading, in which private school students did better.

Opponents of school vouchers seized on those findings. Citing the report, Ralph Neas, president of the liberal nonprofit group People for the American Way, said: ”The goal of this movement isn’t to help students. It’s to achieve vouchers at any cost.”

Or as the motives of Cranberg and Schaffer prove, defeat at any cost a candidate – even a Republican – who also opposes vouchers. No common sense is allowed in this school of debate.