27 March 2009

Daniel Kagan Wins HD 3 Vacancy Race

Daniel Kagan is the newest representative from Colorado State House District 3, effective later today.

The Colorado Independent provided excellent coverage of the Democratic Party House District 3 vacancy committee process, in the midst of a blizzard, to find a successor to my colleague, Democrat Anne McGihon. The Denver Post didn't manage to get a story about the decision announced about 10 p.m. last night in its print edition.

The principal item remaining on the Colorado General Assembly's agenda this year is adoption of a state budget in the face of financial crisis driven declining tax revenues and multiple state constitutional and federal budget constraints. New appointees are often permitted to introduce a "late bill" by the state house leadership, although it is not clear if it is too late in the session to do this this time. Kagan will then serve for the entire 2010 session of the Colorado General Assembly.

The 2010 election will be the last in the House District's current configuration, after which legislative districts will be redistricted based upon the 2010 census. It is possible that there will no longer be a district like House District 3 that bridges Denver and Arapahoe counties. Kagan is from the Arapahoe County portion of the district.

I was on the vacancy committee, but was returning from Florida on a business trip. While the plane made it back on time to Denver International Airport, traffic was moving slowly on account of the snow, so the final vote had been cast before I made it back to the neighborhood.

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