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Ex-election chief rolls eyes at GOP

Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 5, 2007 at midnight

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The former state election director is stunned at Republican hand-wringing over the possibility that a Democrat might take over as secretary of state.

Republicans say they fear voter shenanigans and the possibility of loosened voter requirements if a Democrat oversees the office, which has been held by Republicans for decades.

"It's political fear-mongering from a bunch of hysterical Henny Pennies," said Billy Compton, a Democrat who served as election director for two Republican secretaries of state.

Republican Mike Coffman, who in January began his four-year stint as secretary of state, announced last week that he intends to run for Congress in the 6th Congressional District in 2008.

Top Republicans begged Coffman to reconsider so the secretary of state post would stay in GOP control. He declined.

"I'm profoundly disappointed that Mike appears willing to do something that would turn that office over to Democrats," said Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

The statement has stunned a number of Democrats, including Carol Snyder, former Adams County clerk and recorder.

She said it's "crazy" to think a Democrat can't run the office in a professional, nonpartisan manner.

"They also predicted the Capitol dome was going to fall when Democrats took control of the legislature (in 2005)," Snyder said. "It was still there the last time I looked."

The governor appoints in case of a vacancy. Democrat Bill Ritter took over from Republican Bill Owens in January.

Several politicos have pointed out that Democrats weren't as riled up when Attorney General Ken Salazar ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, even though they knew a Republican would be appointed to his post if he won.

Wadhams said that situation was different.

"Ken Salazar was the strong-est Democratic candidate to try to take that open seat," Wadhams said.

The 6th Congressional District, on the other hand, is so heavily Republican that even if Coffman doesn't run it will remain a GOP seat, he said.

Wadhams also said the secretary of state's office has become increasingly more important as elections have gotten more complex and controversial.

Compton said that can be blamed in part on Katherine Harris, the former secretary of state in Florida who presided over the 2000 Bush-Gore election debacle.

"She's a clear example of how a secretary of state went beyond her responsibilities and directly interjected herself into the process," Compton said. "And she was a Republican."

The vote in Florida was so flawed it took nearly three weeks to determine the winner. Harris came under fire because she also served as George W. Bush's campaign chair for Florida.

The Colorado legislature later passed a law forbidding secretaries of states from holding such positions.

Because of problems in the 2000 presidential race, a number of new federal voting laws were passed. Colorado is still scrambling to implement them.