Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet has reportedly been chosen by Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO) to be the next Senator from Colorado.Bennet will replace Ken Salazar, who has been tapped by Barack Obama to be his Secretary of the Interior, and will assume his office as soon as Salazar is confirmed by the Senate.
Bennet beat out a handful of more recognized names that were also being considered for the position, including Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Rep. John Salazar (Ken's brother), and Rep. Diana DeGette.
As superintendent of the Denver Public Schools, Bennet's work was regarded highly enough that he was reportedly a finalist to become Obama's Secretary of Education.
On the subject of what his politics are and how he will vote in the Senate, I will cede the floor to Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight: "If he fits the profile of a typical Colorado Democrat, he'll be liberal on social issues and the environment, but more moderate on fiscal policy (as his business background might imply)."
Salazar's seat was up for reelection anyway in 2010, so if Bennet decides to run to keep that seat, he would be competing for a full six-year term. If he is merely serving as a placeholder until 2010, then we could see a very competitive Democratic primary with no clear favorite.
But Bennet--who is 44 years old--has a bright political future ahead of him, or so it seems. I would be surprised if he didn't run in 2010, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment