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The Replacements: 28 lawmakers appointed to 29 seats by small groups of party insiders
With close to a third of lawmakers being appointed to office instead of elected by voters, the Colorado General Assembly likely holds a record that few state legislatures would want.
A Colorado Politics analysis showed that of 24 out of the 28 current state lawmakers appointed by vacancy committees, fewer than 40 party insiders on average picked the individuals who would represent the people at the state Capitol, instead of the 89,000 residents of a House district or the 165,000 people who live in a Senate's political boundary.
Illinois Democrats drew new maps. The changes pushed the GOP to the right.
The state’s congressional redistricting illustrates how gerrymandering hollows out the political center and strengthens the fringe, experts say. It also helps explain Kevin McCarthy’s downfall.
CEOs, Step into the Front Lines or Risk Losing Touch
Leading change is both a top-down process and a bottom-up process. The goal is to educate and energize colleagues at every level, especially those on the front lines, about the power of your plans, and to be educated and energized by the pragmatic wisdom of their experiences. Change programs work when they shape the behaviors and unleash the enthusiasm of the people closest to the work — the technologists who write code, the front-line employees who interact with customers, and customers themselves, who have the deciding vote on whether a company is doing something worthwhile. Put simply, it’s hard to reach people’s hearts and minds if the CEO’s head is in the clouds.
Kent Thiry’s next political focus: Big changes to Colorado’s primary election process
The deep-pocketed former DaVita CEO has already spent millions on democracy-related initiatives in Colorado in recent years
Gov. Award Medal: Kent Thiry say culture is the way to success
Former CEO of DaVita Kent Thiry says the best way to grow a business is through the culture.
Whether it's investing in a workshop to help employees become aware of their weaknesses, or a team building exercise, it's the culture that helps build a business.
This Health Care Magnate Wants to Fix Democracy, Starting in Colorado
In the final weeks before the Nov. 3 election, supporters of a down-in-the-weeds effort to overturn a tax law in Colorado received a cascade of big checks, for a grand total of more than $2 million.
All came from Kent Thiry, the former CEO of DaVita, one of the largest kidney care companies in the country. This was not the first time he donated big to a ballot initiative aimed at tweaking the nitty-gritty details of how Colorado functions. Nor will it be the last.
The Community Builder
Kent Thiry, the architect behind DaVita's 20-year growth, brings his village mindset to Colorado initiatives
How DaVita’s Former CEO Is Tackling Joblessness And Equipment Shortages Caused By COVID-19
After 20 years as CEO of Denver-based DaVita Inc., Kent Thiry has turned to a variety of local projects aimed at helping small businesses and workers recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Thiry heads the Energize Colorado Gap Fund, which provides loans for small businesses, using private funds and a $20 million in federal money earmarked for the program by the legislature with support from Gov. Jared Polis and the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
Independents Day: A holiday salute to those Colorado leaders who march to their own beat
These days in politics, there are few surprises. Party doctrine guides the votes of government.
Colorado has an independent streak as long and wide as the Continental Divide, as its largest bloc of voters are unaffiliated. While voters embrace Democratic candidates on the statewide ballot in Colorado, they rarely embrace tax hikes or brakes on oil and gas.
Opinion
Opinion: Colorado’s GOP primary election is open to unaffiliated voters and that’s how it should stay
The Republican Party is attempting to build higher fences around a smaller group of voters
Replace our ‘minority rules’ presidential primary system with ranked-choice voting
As the country turns its focus to the next presidential election, there is a real possibility that 2024 could offer voters the choice of an historically unpopular incumbent vs. an historically corrupt and twice-indicted opponent.
That shouldn’t inspire confidence in our political system — and it doesn’t have to be that way.
Kent Thiry: Another chink in the armor of our democracy
The North Carolina Supreme Court on April 28 took the curious step of overturning its own 19-week-old decision despite there being no new evidence or material facts in the case.
The only things that had changed were the political makeup of the court — and the desire of a new Republican majority to overturn a decision on gerrymandered political maps made by the previous Democratic majority.
Whether you agree with the former decision or the latter, the short-sighted flip flop is a stain on the judicial branch that highlights the need for nationwide action to protect our democracy. Neither our courts, nor our politicians, can be relied upon to do this. It is time for voters to take the reins of our democracy.
Opinion: Denver mayor is a serious job. The mayoral election process deserves a serious re-think.
The bar to qualify should be higher, the vote should be in November, and it should be a ranked-choice ballot
Opinion: Colorado’s semi-open primary is a success. A fully open primary would be better
Imagine elected officials being able to govern with the interests of all Coloradans put first
Opinion: Colorado bucks partisanship to repeal Gallagher Amendment
In 2003, Colorado voters were asked to repeal the state’s so-called Gallagher Amendment. Gallagher’s approach to property taxes was already starting to show signs of inadequacy. Yet, the promise of a slightly lower property tax rate in the future was too compelling and voters turned down the measure in a landslide, 78-22% vote.
Kent Thiry: Small businesses cannot be overlooked in coronavirus response
America is facing an unprecedented public health crisis. Thankfully, we are now acting with speed and resolve to minimize the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus.
Quick and decisive action must be taken to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 and save people’s lives. That must always be our No. 1 priority. But COVID-19 has economic impacts, too. Millions of workers and business owners are in danger of losing their livelihoods.
Voters, not politicians, must defeat gerrymandering
A tectonic shift is underway in America’s political landscape. Disgusted by decades of dysfunction in Washington, voters – led by younger generations – are abandoning the parties and moving from political disaffection to political action.
Colorado independent voters mount a political takeover
All Coloradans, regardless of whether they are Republican, Democrat or independent, care equally about Colorado. Over a million voters demonstrated that on Tuesday, June 26th when they cast a ballot in our primary election –– eclipsing the prior mid-term record for participation which stood for the eight prior years. But what made this election truly historic was the 291,000 independent voters who joined the primary for the first time ever. For those who questioned whether independents would participate, they answered loudly, and their vote will echo through Colorado politics for decades to come.
Open primaries in Colorado are one way to counter partisan politics
In his farewell address to the nation in 1796, President George Washington provided what has proven to be a remarkably insightful warning about the influence of political parties. These parties, Washington penned, “serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community.”
