Cortez crowd welcomes Romanoff

02/09/2010 - Cortez Journal - Steve Grazier - A former Democratic leader in the Colorado Legislature brought his campaign for the U.S. Senate to Cortez.

Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, met with Montezuma County Democrats Saturday night at the downtown residence of Ron and Denise Rieb. About two dozen party members attended the 90-minute reception.

"Restoring common sense and courage" to Washington D.C. is a main theme Romanoff noted that he is campaigning on.

"Both political parties have been hijacked by their extreme wings," said Romanoff, who suggested his position as a Washington outsider could be an advantage in the race. "I don't have to defend what goes on in Washington, D.C."

As a U.S. senator, Romanoff pledged he would stand up to his party's leadership and encourage bipartisanship. He said his party was wrong last December to offer special payment exemptions on Medicaid to Nebraska and Louisiana during the national health care debate.

"If you want my vote, let's do what's right for all of the United States and not just Nebraska and Louisiana," Romanoff said. "Getting power is not just about keeping it, but using it for the good of the people."

On health care, Romanoff advised that Congress should remove pork-barrel spending, put the public option back in and remove the health insurance industry's antitrust exemption.

Giving a lift to small businesses, which are "the backbone of our economy," is a priority, Romanoff said. If elected, he said, he will work to ease credit access to small-business employers and end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

Romanoff is vying for the seat held by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, also a Democrat, in the Aug. 10 state primary election. In January 2009, Bennet was appointed to the senate by Gov. Bill Ritter after then-Sen. Ken Salazar resigned to head the U.S. Department of the Interior.

"No one's been elected to this seat since 2004," Romanoff said. "There are 3 million voters who have a say in Colorado, and many think Washington and government should be fixed."

Either Bennet or Romanoff will face one of three Republicans in the November general election. GOP candidates for the Senate seat include former Colorado Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, former state Sen. Tom Wiens and Ken Buck, a Weld County district attorney.

Romanoff, 43, is a former state representative of Denver's House District 6. He served in the state House from 2001 to 2009 and left office because of term limits. He was Speaker of the House from 2005 to 2009.

He cited his bipartisan experience on Referendum C, on which Democrats and Republicans, including then-Gov. Bill Owens, worked together in the state Legislature to balance Colorado's budget in 2005. Romanoff was Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives at the time.

In 2008, Romanoff authored House Bill 1335, which allocates nearly $1 billion toward the repair of decaying and dangerous public school facilities around the state. The bill passed on support from legislators in both parties.