And no, I’m not talking about John Kerry. This year Boulder will get to vote on three cabinet level state officials, and they’ve got mad important jobs. Once you read what they do, check out Colorado Public Radio and 9 News for good rundowns on each candidate’s position on the issues.
Secretary of State
I know, it’s kind of weird (and confusing) that Colorado has a Secretary of State–with a very different job than our national SOS. This position heads the Colorado Department of State, which has five divisions including Business, Licensing, Administration, Information Technology and Elections. Folks that hold this position generally make the news because of that last one–they’re responsible for supervising and ensuring fair and accurate elections. If you’re thinking that it’s odd that someone in charge of elections is an elected partisan position, you’re not alone. But that’s the reality here in Colorado, so if you care about having fair elections that are accessible to all eligible voters, you should care who gets elected to this job. In case you didn’t get through our Voter Guide yet, here are the candidates running this year:
Joe Neguse (D)
Amanda Campbell (American Constitution)
Dave Schambach (L)
Attorney General
Colorado’s Attorney General is the chief legal officer for the state and head of the Colorado Department of Law. These high profile positions are often in the spotlight for having to defend (or not) state laws that are challenged in the courts. A really big example of this in recent years has been state bans on same sex marriage. All across the county there have been AG’s the have chosen not to defend bans that have been ruled unconstitutional or to keep fighting for them. That’s just one example – they also have a role in enforcing environmental regulations, consumer protection and antitrust laws, prosecution of criminal appeals, and more. The candidates on your ballot this year are:
Don Quick (D)
Cynthia Coffman (R)
Treasurer
This one is pretty easy to understand – Colorado’s Treasurer has the job of managing all of the state’s dollars. The office provides works to maximize the yield earned on all the state’s investments and assets, which helps reduce the tax burden on Coloradans. Also, hundreds of thousands of residents are a part of PERA, the Public Employee Retirement Association–and the current candidates for this position have thoughts on refunding that as well, so be sure to read about that if you’re one of those public employees.
Walker Stapleton (R)
Betsy Markey (D)
David Jurist(L)
So there you have it. Three jobs up for grabs this year that have a lot of influence on how important issues play out…so don’t forget to rock the vote!
P.S. Didn’t get a ballot in the mail already? You’re voter registration probably isn’t current. Go read this!
