Campaign Diaries

Stung that she was not considered a top contender for Ken Salazar’s Senate seat, Rep. Diana DeGette has ensured that her name will part of the conversation by injecting gender as an important consideration.

The abysmally low number of African-American and Hispanic Senators have made race one of the factors discussed in relation to the IL, NY and CO appointments, but the small number of female Senators has generally not been addressed. But Colorado’s particularly poor gender record gave DeGette an opening.

“It’s kind of ridiculous that after all these years, we’ve never had a woman [as governor or U.S. senator],” DeGette pointed out. “I don’t think the press or the chattering class seriously consider any of the women candidates.”

In fact, based on my quick research, no woman has won the Democratic or the Republican nomination in a gubernatorial or senatorial race since 1998, when two women topped the state’s Democratic ticket and lost to Senator Ben Campbell and soon-to-be-Governor Bill Owens.

Yet, the prospect of a female Senator decreased this week when Lieutenant Governor Barbara O’Brien and State Treasurer Cary Kennedy withdrew their name from consideration, limiting the number of women Governor Bill Ritter will consider. (This same phenomenon happened in New York, where Reps. Nydia Velasquez Nita Lowey announced they did not want Hillary’s Senate seat even though they were considered front-runners for the position.)

This leaves DeGette and former state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald as the to women contenders for Salazar’s seat; EMILY’s List has been pushing oil heiress Swanee Hunt. The latter doesn’t live in Colorado, so it might be a bit of a stretch for Ritter to bypass state Democrats to choose a Massachusetts resident.

Two other important developments in Colorado concern male contenders. First is the withdrawal of Bill Clinton’s Transportation Secretary and former Denver Mayor Federico Peña. It was speculated that it would be hard for Salazar to deny Peña the post if he wanted it, so this certainly clears the field for other candidates - starting with Denver’s current Mayor.

John Hickenlooper confirmed his interest in the Senate seat for the first time this week, adding that he had already had a “formal” conversation with Ritter. Hickenlooper explained that, “If you take someone like me who has spent most of his life in business and then at some point decides to give 10 to 15 years to public service, and you want to be useful, then you want to get the maximum benefit out of that public service.”

On the GOP side, meanwhile, there is unsurprisingly far less movement. It is hard to blame potential Republican candidates for taking their time when they do not know who they would have to face in 2010 - and whether Ritter’s appointment might limit other seats.

For instance, U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said last week that he was eying a Senate run but that he might also run in the state’s 7th congressional district if Ritter chooses Rep. Ed Perlmutter as Senator. (Let this be a reminder that a Perlmutter pick would pave the way to a competitive special election this spring.)

Other potential Republican candidates who have acknowledged their interest include Rep. Tom Tancredo, state Attorney General John Suthers and former Rep. Scott McInnis. I do not believe that Bill Owens or John Elway have recently made public statements. I remain skeptical that either would run after they passed on an open seat in 2008.