The Colorado Independent » Presidential Elections

Bad news for Wadhams: Colorado not in top-10 state legislative battlegrounds

David O. Williams — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:10:37 +0000

Colorado may be a toss-up state in the presidential race, but it’s nowhere to be found on a list of the top-10 battlegrounds for control of state governments.

In what amounts to more bad news for Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dick Wadhams, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) on Friday listed 10 states where the changeover of just a handful of seats in the state legislature could shift control to either party.

While some Western and Midwestern states such as Montana, Nevada and Oklahoma made the list, Colorado — where Democrats control the Senate by a 20-15 margin and the House by a 40-25 margin — was not one of them. The other seven state legislative battleground states are Delaware, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

According to the NCSL, voters will decide 80 percent of the 7,382 total state legislative seats and 11 state governors nationwide on Nov. 4. The group says that low number of governor seats makes the legislative races all the more vital, especially in a presidential election year.

“History suggests that success for either Sen. John McCain or Sen. Barack Obama will produce a coattail effect,” said Tim Storey, an NCSL elections expert, “and is especially true in presidential battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania.”

Since 1940, according to the NCSL, the party winning the presidency has picked up state legislative seats in 11 of 17 elections, except in 2004 when Republicans had a net loss of 25 seats nationwide despite winning the presidency. The party that wins the White House on average gains more than 125 legislative seats.

Tancredo’s Moments of Truth

Leslie Robinson — Fri, 04 May 2007 14:31:16 +0000

Congressman Tom Tancredo maybe should think twice about quitting his day job. First, by the unluck of the draw he got the “potted plant” position, as his Democratic counterpart Sen. Gravel called the end spot on the presidential debate lineup. Tancredo didn’t do well on his signature issue, immigration, during questioning. And now his congressional office space has been declared a “Holy Sanctuary” for all immigrants around the world.Members of United Voices for United Families, who work out of Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission Church in Chicago, described the ceremony:

The group consisted of 10 members, women, men and children who had a scheduled appointment with the congressman’s office. They met with legislative assistant
Andrew Good to discuss the issue of the mixed status families in America and to bring a very important message. The group knowing that Congressman Tancredo has a very racist reputation when it comes to Latino immigrants and the issue of Comprehensive Immigration Reform still choose to bring him a message of truth.
The message was brought to the Congressman as a people of faith. Inside of the office the celebration of the Holy Eucharist was performed, all participated, even Mr. Good. During the Celebration of the Eucharist the office was declared a Holy Sanctuary for all immigrants around the world.
“We prayed and asked God to remove the demon of racism from Congressman Tancredo’s office. We will continue to take this message to all the politicians to save our families,” said Julie Santos of United Voices for United Families.

The sanctuary certificate is in the mail along with all those other invites to the future presidential debates.