Given the high probability that Democrat Michael Bennet will handpick his successor in the U.S. Senate, we’ve been looking back at Bennet’s appointment to represent Colorado in Washington, D.C.
Bennet was appointed to the Senate in 2009 by then-Gov. Bill Ritter to fill the seat vacated by Ken Salazar, who was tapped by President Barack Obama to be interior secretary. We sat down with Ritter and his then-chief of staff, Jim Carpenter, to hear the inside story of how Bennet’s selection, which shaped the trajectory of Colorado politics, came to be.
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Bennet, who at the time was superintendent of Denver Public Schools, was one of more than a dozen people who sought the Senate appointment. That he had never held, let alone run for, elected office was working against him. In his favor was the personal relationship he had built with Ritter.
Ritter worked with Bennet when Ritter was Denver’s district attorney and Bennet was then-Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper’s chief of staff. The budget for the Denver District Attorney’s Office is controlled by the city, so the two had to work together.
“He was really good to work with,” Ritter said.
Then, when Ritter launched his 2005 gubernatorial campaign, Bennet became an education adviser.
“He was the person I looked to most to talk about education and education policy,” Ritter said.
One night, Ritter, still a gubernatorial candidate, was attending a Democratic organizing meeting at South High School in Denver when he heard Bennet was upstairs defending a school closure at a tense community gathering. Ritter stood in the back and listened. He was impressed with how Bennet handled himself in a tricky situation. Bennet was officially on Ritter’s radar.
Fast forward to 2008, when Salazar was picked to lead the Interior Department, Ritter wanted Bennet, hot off being a finalist to be Obama’s education secretary, in the replacement mix.
Also seeking the appointment were Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, then-Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette and then-U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter.
Ritter said he called Colorado’s former U.S. senators to help him decide whom to appoint to fill Salazar’s seat. That included Republicans Bill Armstrong and Hank Brown and Democrats Tim Wirth and Gary Hart.
“‘What makes the best U.S. senator?” Ritter said his question was. “It was intellect that mattered a lot for those senators.”
Bennet checked that box in his interview with Ritter.
“He was very comfortable talking about the Middle East, very comfortable talking about foreign policy and foreign relations,” Ritter said. “He had this ability to talk about this wide swath of issues that senators have to deal with.”
In early January 2009, Ritter announced that Bennet was his guy. The reaction was mixed.
“The one thing that we didn’t know is whether he could win an election,” Ritter said, “and we had to kind of take that as an article of faith that he would be able to win.”
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THE PRESSURE CAMPAIGN
Salazar was tapped to lead the Interior Department at about the same time then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested for a pay-to-play scheme around his power to appoint someone to fill the Senate seat vacated by Obama when he was elected president. That served as Ritter’s backdrop for the process of replacing Salazar.
Ritter said Obama called him as he was making his appointment.
“His message was, ‘you pick whoever you want,’” Ritter said. “He never suggested that there was a candidate that he preferred, probably imagining that the FBI could be listening to that phone call.”
But even if Obama wasn’t putting his thumb on the scale, others were trying to. Ritter said his close friends and confidants were the target of an influence campaign. Meanwhile, a group of prominent women pushed him to appoint the first woman from Colorado to the Senate.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee tried to weigh in, too, because Salazar’s seat was up for grabs in 2010 and at the time Colorado was still very much a swing state.
“They had polled it and they had their favorites,” Ritter said of the DSCC. “I’m not gonna actually talk about who their favorites were, but Bennet was not on their radar.”
In fact, the DSCC hadn’t even included Bennet’s name in the poll.
“Chuck Schumer was not very happy with the pick when I made it,” Ritter said of the Senate Democratic leader. “But Michael had to run in 2010, and Schumer called me in October and said, ‘I’m sorry. You were exactly right. This guy has a chance to be the best U.S. senator there is.’”
Bennet beat Republican Ken Buck in 2010 and has won reelection two times since.
Ritter said his own experience being appointed Denver’s district attorney in 1993 by then-Gov. Roy Romer was in the back of his mind as he made the Senate pick. Ritter, a 36-year-old prosecutor with no political ties, was the dark-horse candidate among three people, including Beth McCann and Andy Loewi, seeking the job.
“Political wisdom said Gov. Roy Romer had only two real choices for the Denver district attorney’s job,” the Rocky Mountain News wrote at the time, referencing McCann, then Denver’s public safety director, and Loewi, a politically connected attorney.
Romer chose Ritter. McCann went on to be a state representative and then was elected Denver’s district attorney in 2016. Loewi died in 2007.
“Romer made sure of one thing in picking Bill Ritter as Denver’s next district attorney. No one is going to accuse him of playing political games with the appointment,” the Rocky Mountain News wrote.
The question now is whether Bennet, should he win Colorado’s gubernatorial race next year, make a similar dark-horse pick.
RITTER AND CARPENTER REUNITE
As we’ve reported earlier, Ritter and Carpenter are working together once again after the former governor recently joined Carpenter’s Freestone Strategies alongside co-founders Cody Wertz and Kyle Miller.
When The Sun met up with Ritter and Carpenter this week, Carpenter had with him a fresh company credit card for Ritter.
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THE NARRATIVE
Colorado’s low-income tax credits weren’t supposed to break the budget. The JBC is worried they might.
Chief Economist Greg Sobetski presents Legislative Council Staff’s March revenue and economic forecast to the Joint Budget Committee on March 17. (Jesse Paul, The Colorado Sun)The day after the state legislature gave final passage to the budget bill, the six members of the Colorado Joint Budget Committee already found themselves considering cuts they may have to make next year.
And for at least one major program, if they wait until next legislative session, it could be too late.
Budget writers are growing increasingly worried that last year’s deal to cut income taxes and redirect taxpayer refunds to low-income families could exacerbate the state’s budget problems in a way supporters never anticipated.
The deal was struck at a time of budgetary plenty, when the state was regularly achieving billion-dollar surpluses above the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights revenue limit. In response, lawmakers enacted temporary income tax cuts, expanded the earned income tax credit and created a new family affordability tax credit for low-income households with children.
But its provisions were only supposed to take effect if the economy was growing enough to result in large TABOR refunds.
In a memo provided to the JBC on Tuesday, legislative analysts now say there’s a decent chance the state could be on the hook for the full $1 billion cost of the tax credits next year even if the state doesn’t have the surplus revenue to pay for it. If that happened, the state’s new tax credits for low-income families would eat into the state’s general fund, potentially knocking the budget out of balance and forcing additional cuts the following year.
The senior homestead exemption — the cost of which the state currently covers by reimbursing local governments with the TABOR surplus — would likely be the first thing on the chopping block.
The problem lies in the trigger mechanism lawmakers used to flip the tax credits on, off or somewhere in between. The choice is made automatically during the December forecast. If revenue is expected to grow faster than a 3.75% compound annual growth rate, the credits flip on. If not, they are reduced or turned off entirely.
Here’s the catch: If the December forecast is too optimistic, the tax credits could flip on, then create budget problems if the economy deteriorates.
“We won’t know whether these will damage your budget until after they’ve done so,” Greg Sobetski, the chief economist with Colorado Legislative Council staff, told the JBC this week.
Further complicating matters, the law uses the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, as the base to determine whether revenue is growing fast enough to accommodate the tax credits. But this year — in large part because of the tax credits, which are costing the state more than expected — budget analysts say Colorado might not collect enough revenue to go over the TABOR cap.
If that happens, the tax credits would forever be tied to whether state revenue can grow from a relatively low year rather than a year in which the state is over the cap.
“If we end up below the cap in the base year, then what these triggers would do is make sure that you just don’t fall even farther below the cap,” JBC staff director Craig Harper told the committee. “They would not allow you to get back to the cap.”
“I don’t think the trigger is actually doing what it was supposed to do,” Sobetski added.
TAKING THE BUDGET OFF AUTOPILOT
In response to the memo, the JBC voted unanimously to begin drafting a bill that would give them options to change the trigger.
At minimum, most of the committee members said they’re leaning toward using the 2023-24 fiscal year — when the state was well over the cap — as the base year for calculating the growth rate. Under that scenario, the tax credits are still expected to turn on fully next year, but they’d be more likely to turn off if the budget picture deteriorates.
Rep. Rick Taggart, a Grand Junction Republican, suggested linking the tax credits to whichever December forecast is more conservative, rather than the forecast the JBC used to set the budget. JBC Chair Jeff Bridges, a Greenwood Village Democrat, said they should consider going a step further and ask the legislature to give the committee the power to turn them on or off. (The legislature isn’t in session when the pivotal forecasts come out, and the March forecast comes too far into tax filing season to change the income tax code.)
“Our fiscal situation shouldn’t just be on autopilot,” said Rep. Shannon Bird, a Westminster Democrat. “I feel like we have some flashing red signs here.”
Rep. Emily Sirota, a Denver Democrat, said she’s OK with changing the base year. But she says lawmakers should look to other tax breaks first if they need to make cuts. The low-income tax breaks are among the only ones the state offers that turn off automatically.
“I think I would prefer to fund the family affordability credit and the earned income tax credit than, say, subsidies to the insurance industry,” Sirota said.
Caught between state and federal budget cuts, Colorado’s local government programs are at risk Colorado legislature passes $43.9 billion budget that cuts transportation, social programs to fund rising health care costs As state lawmakers mull tax breaks for tech giants, critics wonder: What’s in it for Coloradans?Want to reach Colorado political influencers and support quality local journalism? The Sun can help get your message attention through a sponsorship of The Unaffiliated, the must-read politics and policy newsletter in Colorado. Contact Sylvia Harmon at [email protected] for more information.
THE POLITICAL TICKER
ELECTION 2026
Democrat John Padora will try again to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. He announced his 2026 campaign Monday.
Padora ran for the seat in 2024 but came in a distant third in the Democratic primary won by Trisha Calvarese, who went on to lose to Boebert. Calvarese is also considering whether to run again in the district next year.
THE LOBBY
The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, or CHFA, has named Guadalupe Gutierrez-Vasquez its new chief financial officer.
Gutierrez-Vasquez most recently served as director of the cash and capital funding division within the department of finance for the city and county of Denver. Her first day at CHFA will be May 13.
2026 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
The 2026 legislative session in Colorado will begin Jan. 14.
READ MORE
With billions at stake, Colorado joins multistate lawsuit to block Trump tariffs Colorado Senate again rejects effort to ask voters to let victims of past child sex abuse sue their abusers Jared Polis’ plan to accelerate Colorado’s clean energy transition won’t reach the legislature this year— Colorado Public Radio via the Colorado Capitol News Alliance Bill requiring climate warning label on gasoline pumps killed by Colorado lawmakers Uber says it will exit Colorado if bill aimed at boosting rideshare safety becomes law Boulder clinic that offered abortions in later pregnancy closes after decades of targeted threats Why Colorado’s artificial intelligence law is a big deal for the whole country Colorado lawmakers want to tax “free” sports bets to raise more money for water projects Colorado’s outdoor businesses buckling in Trump trade war, closing up shop and laying off long-time workers Douglas County residents sue commissioners for allegedly doing public business in secret Democrats revive effort to ask Colorado voters to let past victims of child sex abuse sue their abusers— KUNC via the Colorado Capitol News Alliance Jared Polis vetoes public records bill, setting up showdown with Colorado legislature— KUNC via the Colorado Capitol News Alliance Colorado lawmakers move to ban sexually exploitive images, video created with artificial intelligence— CPR News via the Colorado Capitol News Alliance Jared Polis vetoes bill regulating social media sites operating in Colorado; lawmakers signal override fight is coming— CPR News via the Colorado Capitol News Alliance Prominent Colorado LGBTQ+ groups hedge on support for transgender rights bill— The Denver Post ? “Rare and unprecedented”: Federal judge grills government on its “interest” in Tina Peters case— Colorado Politics ? Boebert asks DOGE, DOT to halt funding for Colorado’s Front Range passenger rail— 9News? = source has article meter or paywall
STATE PARTIES
The final Colorado GOP campaign finance report filed under Dave Williams’ reign
The Colorado GOP paid Chairman Dave Williams $18,000 in March as he prepared to vacate his post.
The majority of that, or $10,000, was marked as a “deferred payment.” The final payout brings Williams’ earnings as chairman to $186,500 over two years. That averaged out to $93,250 a year.
The party also paid then-Treasurer Tom Bjorklund $18,000 in March, a majority of which was also marked as a deferred payment.
The Colorado GOP raised about $136,000 in March and spent $262,362, leaving the party with just less than $75,000 as Chairwoman Brita Horn took charge.
The Colorado Democratic Party raised $169,000 in March and spent $88,000 during the month, entering April with nearly $390,000 in cash on hand.
Newly elected Colorado GOP Chair Brita Horn says she’s working to mend divided party, “move forward”— Colorado Politics ?THE BIGGER PICTURE
Trump advisers took advantage of Peter Navarro’s absence to push for tariff pause— The Wall Street Journal ? Elon Musk says he’ll dedicate more time to Tesla starting in May after company reported a big profit drop— The Associated Press Abundance meets resistance: Are Democrats finally ready to go all in on building housing?— CalMatters Washington can now restrict outside National Guard from entering state — The Seattle Times ?? = source has article meter or paywall
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