By Jody Hope Strogoff
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

There are numerous Democrats being talked about as potential successors to Sen. Ken Salazar and many are top notch contenders. How inadequate Colorado Republicans must feel in comparison. Nary a handful of names as impressive as the ones being mentioned comes to mind had the vacancy occurred within the GOP.

Gov. Bill Ritter has a very tough decision to make in the next week or two and just about everyone involved in politics is consumed with chatter about the various scenarios. Handicapping the field has suddenly become the fodder for holiday parties and political get togethers throughout the state.

I’m not immune either. But trying to figure out what Ritter will do is not only crowding my mind, it’s causing me a small amount of anxiety. If the governor makes his selection Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday before New Year’s Day, we’ll be able to meet our regular deadline and get the story in time for next week’s issue. But if he waits until Friday, Jan. 2 — as some people expect he will — well, we either extend our deadline and go to press 12 hours late, or wait a full week before we bring you our take. I bet the governor didn’t realize he had so much power as to determine just when the presses will start rolling.

On Tuesday night, I ran into a fellow aficionado of politics at Neiman Marcus in Cherry Creek. While I was perusing a gorgeous pair of gray kid suede gloves lined with cashmere, there was Carol Boigon, a Denver City Council member, looking at me from across the display case. A longtime friend, we of course had to dish, and the topic wasn’t glove wear but that other hand wrenching topics, politics.

I think we must have discussed every potential player in this high stakes contest. Without divulging all of our personal assessments, let it only be shared that the astute Boigon feels strongly that Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has the seat “85 percent” sewn up.

And the remaining 15 percent? Well Boigon has heard (as have I) that Hispanics and women are lobbying hard for one of their own to be selected for the soon-to-be vacant Senate seat.

With Salazar departing for the Department of Interior, that would leave only two Latino U.S. Senators, and one, Mel Martinez, R-Fla., has already announced he will not seek reelection in 2010.

There are also women in Colorado who feel that their gender should have more representation in the upper chamber.

The latest hopeful actually fits both criteria — Hispanic and a woman. Polly Baca is a former state senator, was an appointee in Bill Clinton’s presidential administration, served as an officer for the Democratic National Committee and is a Colorado native whose family roots wind from the plains of southeastern Colorado to the metro area.

Baca has many friends across the country and she would be an avid fundraiser who could generate contributions from fellow Hispanics, National Democrats and women’s organizations locally and nationwide. She is a strong public speaker and would be a formidable candidate against any Republican challenger two years from now.

Early this week, Baca sent a letter to Gov. Ritter confirming her interest in the Senate seat. Attached to her letter were a long list of impressive credentials on her resumé.

Ritter has a bevy of strong contenders from which to choose for the Senate, but he could go a long way in “thinking out of the box” were he to appoint Polly Baca.

Polly Baca’s letter to Gov. Ritter about appointment to the U.S. Senate

December 22, 2008

Hon. Bill Ritter
Governor of Colorado
State Capitol
Denver, CO 80203

Dear Governor Ritter:

This is to officially inform you that I would like to be considered for appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Sen. Ken Salazar. Should you grant me this honor, I will become the first Hispanic woman to serve in the U.S. Senate in the history of our country.

As the first Hispanic woman to serve in the U.S. Senate, I will be able to raise the necessary funds needed to conduct a winning campaign in 2010. In addition to our friends in Colorado that raise funds for our Democratic candidates, I will be able to reach across the aisle and raise funds from some of our Republican colleagues who would be interested in funding an historic candidacy. In addition, I will call on my friends and colleagues in other states that I worked with while I was Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

• California: Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas; U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer; State Senator Alex Padilla, and L.A. Attorney Ralph Ochoa.

• Arizona: Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox, former State Senate President Alfredo Gutierrez, Cong. Ed Pastor, Cong. Raul Grijalva, and Judge Ronnie Lopez.

• New Mexico: former Ambassador Ed Lucero who was finance chair for Gov. Bill Richardson, House Speaker Ben Lujan, former Governor Jerry Apodaca, and former HACER President Rick Bela.

• Texas: former Texas State Senator and current radio personality Gonzalo Barrientos, former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros, San Antonio City Council woman Mary Alice Cisneros, and State Senator Judy Zaffirini.

• New York: Nydia Velasquez, Chair, Congressional Hispanic Caucus; former Cong. Bobby Garcia; and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion.

• Washington, D.C.: Mickey Ibarra, Founder and Chair, Latino Leaders Network, Janet Murguia, President; National Council of La Raza; Jack Dempsey, General Council, AFSCME; Eliseo Medina, National Vice President, SEIU; Jimmy Kennedy, Senior Vice President, Market Development, ULLICO Inc, and Tim Sandos, CEO, National Hispanic Realtors Association.

• Virginia: Alex Rodriguez, Chair, Virginia League of United Latin American Citizens and former Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of the Treasury.

• Illinois: State Senator Tony Munoz and Professor Jack Roberts.

• Pennsylvania: former Judge Nelson Diaz.

• Miami: Guarione Diaz, President and CEO of the Cuban American National Council.

My credentials include the following:

Local Experience: State Representative – 4 years; State Senator – 8 years. Chair, House and Senate Democratic Caucuses. Clinton Appointee as Region VIII Director, General Services Administration, six-state region that included Colorado.

National Experience: Vice Chair, Democratic National Committee, 8 years. President Lyndon Johnson Administration, White House Public Information Officer. Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton for Consumer Affairs, chaired the Consumer Affairs Council that consisted of representatives of 41 different federal agencies, and represented consumers on the federal Information Infrastructure Task Force.

Deputy Director of Viva Kennedy Campaign, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy for President Campaign (1968). Rocky Mountain States Regional Campaign Coordinator, President Jimmy Carter Re-election Campaign (1980). Participated in the Camp David Domestic Summit hosted by President Jimmy Carter in July 1979.

International Experience: Chaired the U.S. delegation to Paris, France, for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Committee on Consumer Policy. Lectured in Japan and the Philippines on the American political system and the role of racial and ethnic Americans and women in the American socio-political system and economic systems as a participant in the U.S. Information Agency AmPart program. A speaker and participant at the West Berlin, Germany seminar on “The Impact of the 1984 American Elections,” sponsored by the Aspen Institute Berlin. Participated in study seminars in the former Soviet Union, Indonesia, Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Chile. Was a White House guest at the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty.

Governor, your positive consideration for appointment to the U.S. Senate would be greatly appreciated.

With warm regards,

Polly Baca