Beth McCann also running for not yet vacant SD 32

Colorado State Rep. Beth McCann, HD 8, told The Colorado Independent this evening that she is also running for the seat most insiders expect State Senator Chris Romer to vacate soon.

Romer is expected to leave the Senate so that he can campaign full time for mayor of Denver.

“I’m definitely putting my name in,” she said. “I think you can have more influence in the Senate because there are fewer members. My experience in the House will make me an effective senator from day one,” she said.

Denver Democratic Party Secretary Owen Perkins told The Colorado Independent earlier today that he is also running for Romer’s seat. Romer has not returned phone calls.

She said that moving to a chamber with a Democratic majority also has appeal. “The Senate will be a more favorable environment in which to get bills passed next year,” she said.

“I’ve really loved representing House District 8, but I also look forward to the opportunity to get to know people from a larger area of the city,” she said.

Senate District 32 includes all or parts of four house districts.

She said she would expect to continue her work in higher education, juvenile justice issues, health care, environmental and energy issues and animal welfare issues.

“We have to find a better way to fund higher education. It is very harmful to the state as a whole if we do not provide good opportunities for young people,” she said.

She said budgetary issues will be a top concern of both houses and that she believes the state needs to deal with the constitutional constraints that have been placed on budgeting in Colorado.

If McCann is elected to SD 32 by a vacancy committee, then a second vacancy committee would be formed to fill her seat.

Scot Kersgaard has been managing editor of a political newspaper, editor and co-owner of a ski town newspaper, executive editor of eight high-tech magazines (where he worked with current Apple CEO Tim Cook), deputy press secretary to a U.S. Senator, and an outdoors columnist at the Rocky Mountain News. He has an English degree from the University of Washington. He was awarded a fellowship to study internet journalism at the University of Maryland's Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. He was student body president in college. He spends his free time hiking and skiing.

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