Terrance Carroll elected to speaker of Colorado House

For 39-year-old Democrat, 'it's an amazing moment'

By Ed Sealover, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 7, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Terrance Carroll was born in one of the worst neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., the only child to a single mother who was a sharecropper's daughter.

Considering the long road he has traveled, it seemed appropriate that the normally loquacious 39-year-old Democrat had to collect himself when elected to one of Colorado's highest political posts Thursday.

"I wasn't shocked," he said outside the House Majority Caucus after being selected by his party to be the next speaker of the House. "I was really overwhelmed and wanted to keep myself from crying like a baby up there."

The shock may be in how far Carroll has come from growing up in Washington's drug- and violence-ridden Capitol Hill and Anacostia neighborhoods, the latter of which was known as "Dodge City within Dodge City."

A Boy Scout whose mother took him to church on Sundays, Carroll rode his 10-speed bike to Arlington National Cemetery or nearby Mount Vernon, Va., just to get out of his community.

He left for good at the age of 18 - heading off to study political science and run track at Morehouse College, a historically black school in Atlanta. He came west in 1992 to get his doctorate in political science at the University of Colorado.

The professor who recruited Carroll left CU after one year, but rather than follow him, Carroll decided to become a police officer at the university. He served on the bike patrol before heading back to school, this time to get his master of divinity degree and become an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church.

"He believes in a higher power than himself, which is a good quality in a leader," said Rep. Rob Witwer, a Genesee Republican and friend. "I think he truly views leadership as service to other people."

Stints as a chaplain and youth counselor followed, as did getting his law degree from the University of Denver and joining a Denver law firm. But by his early 30s, Carroll was drawn to play the political game he'd studied. He served as political director for Mike Feely's failed congressional campaign in 2002 and was tapped for an appointment to an open House seat in 2003 while running Michael Hancock's Denver City Council race.

As a legislator representing northeast Denver, Carroll has served as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and assistant minority leader. He decided to run for speaker Tuesday after the anticipated choice, Bernie Buescher, was upset in his re-election bid.

Carroll acknowledged he didn't have time to consider the significance of becoming the first black speaker in Colorado history.

But he did think of his mother, Corine Carroll, who, at age 51, gave birth to him and worked on her hands and knees to make sure her son didn't.

Carroll moved her out to Colorado as she battled Alzheimer's disease in the last years of her life. She died six years ago.

"I'm exceptionally grateful and thankful and feel blessed especially for my mother," he said. "It's just an amazing moment."

A profile

* Age: 39

* Birthplace: Washington, D.C.

* Residence: Denver

* Occupation: Attorney at Greenberg Traurig; ordained minister

* State lawmaker: 2003 to present

* Previous jobs: Police officer, ordained minister

* Hobbies: Avid cyclist

* Education: University of Denver College of Law, 2005; master of divinity, Iliff School of Theology, 1999; bachelor of arts, Morehouse College, 1992

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