Politics

Colorado-based Cherry Creek Mortgage sued by same-sex couple over alleged health benefit denials

DENVER – Colorado-based Cherry Creek Mortgage faces a federal discrimination lawsuit filed by a California couple who say they were denied health benefits by the company because of their same-sex marriage—one of them who was just a year out from suffering two heart attacks.

Judith Dominguez, 59, and her wife, 55-year-old Patricia Martinez, filed the suit against Cherry Creek Mortgage Company and two health insurance companies it used—UnitedHealth Group and UnitedHealthcare Services—last week in U.S. District Court of Central California. Continue reading

Andy Kerr joins Pettersen, Moreno in dropping out of race for Congress after Perlmutter recommits

LAKEWOOD, Colo. – State Sen. Andy Kerr became the third of four Democrats to drop out of the Democratic race for Colorado’s 7th Congressional District seat on Tuesday—a day after Rep. Ed Perlmutter announced he would seek re-election in 2018 after all.

Kerr announced Tuesday morning he was suspending his campaign—less than 24 hours after Perlmutter re-entered the race he had dropped out of just two months earlier.

What had appeared to have been one of the hottest 2018 races in Colorado cooled just as fast, as both state Rep. Brittany Pettersen and state Sen. Dominick Moreno suspended their campaigns Monday after Perlmutter’s announcement.

Kerr held out through Monday, but had conceded had thrown his support behind Perlmutter Tuesday morning.

“There’s a good reason to be excited about Ed’s decision to run for Congress again,” Kerr said in a video he posted to Facebook. “He’s a true-blue Coloradan that has spent more than a decade in Washington D.C. fighting for our values and making sure that we have a strong advocate for Jefferson and Adams counties.”

“I know that Ed will continue to push back against President Trump and Paul Ryan’s regressive agenda, and champion progressive solutions,” Kerr continued. “I hope you will join me in supporting him in his re-election.”

Kerr thanked his volunteers, staffers, supporters and friends for their help on his campaign, and thanked his family as well before saying he would continue as a state senator.

“Their love and dedication has meant the world to me. Thank you, I look forward to continuing working for the people of Colorado in my role as state Senator. It’s been an honor to have this opportunity,” Kerr said.

Both Moreno and Petterson endorsed Perlmutter as well. But Dan Baer—the fourth Democrat who had declared to run for Perlmutter’s seat and a former Obama administration hand—still hasn’t pulled out of the race.

A spokeswoman for Baer said Monday that Baer was traveling for his grandmother’s 90th birthday and wouldn’t have an immediate response.

When Perlmutter announced Monday he was re-entering the race after taking time to “regroup and recharge,” he said he had talked with Kerr, Pettersen and Moreno before making the announcement, and that he’d corresponded with Baer.

“They are all wonderful people and I know for them and some others my decision is not convenient or well timed, for which I’m sorry,” he said.

Pettersen had led the pack of four in fundraising, though all had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the campaigns.

Campaign finance records show Perlmutter ended June with $423,416 in on-hand cash. He started the year with approximately $72,000 less.

No Republicans have so far filed to run against Perlmutter in the district.

Colorado AG won’t prosecute ‘faithless elector’ Micheal Baca; Williams says he’s ‘disappointed’

DENVER – Colorado’s attorney general won’t prosecute the so-called “faithless elector,” Micheal Baca, who broke state law last December when he wrote John Kasich’s name on his elector ballot instead of Hillary Clinton’s as was required.

Baca was a Democratic elector for Colorado and was one of three so-called “Hamilton electors” from Colorado who had threatened to try and upend President Donald Trump’s victory by voting for another candidate on the electoral ballot. Continue reading

Ed Perlmutter will seek re-election to Congress after taking time to ‘regroup and recharge’

DENVER – U.S. Congressman Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., says he’s taken time to “regroup and recharge” and will again seek re-election to Colorado’s 7th Congressional District in 2018.

It’s been a back-and-forth few months for the Congressman from Denver, who is currently in the midst of his sixth term.

In April, he announced he would be running for governor of Colorado in 2018 in an effort to replace John Hickenlooper, who will be term-limited. Continue reading

DeGette, House Dems introduce resolution to censure Trump over ‘both sides’ Charlottesville comments

DENVER – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., is co-sponsoring a resolution with three other Democratic members of Congress to censure President Donald Trump for his repeated condemnation of “both sides” at Charlottesville, in which white supremacists held a large rally and one of them allegedly killed a 32-year-old counter-protester.

DeGette is just one of more than 79 co-sponsors of the resolution, which was introduced at a Friday pro forma session in the House of Representatives. Its original sponsors are Reps. Jerrold Nadler of New York, Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey and Pramila Jayapal of Washington—all Democrats. Continue reading

Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne files to run for governor of Colorado in 2018

DENVER – Colorado Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne filed last week to run for governor in 2018 after months of speculation over whether she would aim to take the office after her current superior, John Hickenlooper, leaves office due to term limits.

The “Lynne for Colorado” campaign committee for a possible run filed with the Secretary of State’s Office on Aug. 1, and Lynne made her candidacy official by filing with the office on Aug. 11. Continue reading

Anthem staying in Colorado health insurance marketplace next year, a boon to market stabilization

DENVER – Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado is definitely staying in the state’s health insurance marketplace in 2018, the state Division of Insurance confirmed Wednesday.

The company had already tentatively committed to offering plans in Colorado next year when it submitted a rate request to the state in June, but Division of Insurance spokesman Vince Plymell told Denver7 Thursday the final commitment “actually came in the last week or so.” Continue reading

VDARE conference planned in Colorado Springs canceled amid uproar over white supremacists

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A conference of white supremacists and their sympathizers scheduled for April 2018 at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort has been canceled, the organization and resort confirmed Wednesday.

The cancelation came a day after Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers denounced white supremacy and said the city wouldn’t “provide any support or resources” to the event. Continue reading

Denver mayor, city council reach compromise with new immigrants’ rights ordinance proposal

DENVER – Denver’s mayor and city council have reached a compromise of sorts on an ordinance aimed at memorializing city policies they say are aimed at protecting immigrants and refugees in the city.

Mayor Michael Hancock and councilors Paul Lopez and Robin Kniech announced at a Wednesday afternoon news conference that they will be introducing the new ordinance directly to the full city council on Aug. 21—bypassing committee. The proposed ordinance is called the Denver Public Safety Enforcement Priorities Act. Watch the full news conference in the player below. Continue reading

White supremacy in the headlines: A look back at the time the KKK ruled Colorado

DENVER – As white supremacist organizations and the Ku Klux Klan are again in the news across the U.S. due to their emboldened resurgence over the past couple of years, we are taking a look back at the history of the Klan in Colorado—one of several western states that saw among the largest population of members in the early 1920s.

According to a 1965 article by James H. Davis published in Colorado Magazine called “Colorado Under the Klan,” John Galen Locke became the first Grand Dragon of the Klan in Colorado after it was founded in 1922. Other historians have written that Klansmen started organizing in Colorado in 1920. Continue reading