Local state lawmaker dumps Dems

Will likely run as a write-in in 2010

The start of the New Year is definitely a time of change for Colorado state representative Kathleen Curry of Gunnison.

On Tuesday, December 29, the area’s representative to the state house changed her party affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated. The move will cost her two powerful positions at the state house. She will no longer be the speaker pro tem of the house or chairperson of the House Agriculture Committee.
Curry said both Governor Bill Ritter and House Speaker Terrance Carroll were surprised at her move. “They were not expecting it,” she admitted during an interview late Tuesday. “But I know them both well enough to know they will be respectful. They know I will apply the same thought process to my decisions as I always have and they’ll understand I’m not a lost cause. But I’m sure that right now, they’re wondering what in the world I’m doing.”
Curry said her decision was not the result of any one disagreement with the Democratic Party. “It was a big picture feeling,” she said. “A lot of little things built up to the point where I made this decision. It was more the whole system. I don’t fit in with always having to be mindful of the party agenda on either side. I see that system as dysfunctional. Being in a leadership role with the party, I felt I should have been on the same page philosophically as the Democrats and that wasn’t always the case. I think I’ve been a disappointment to the Dems because some of my votes have been off the party message.”
Leaving the party in power while holding two powerful positions is probably not the easiest way to get things done. Curry admits that. “After five years in the state house, I’ve established good relationships with people of both parties and hopefully those relationships will continue,” she said. “I think I can still accomplish things. I have a unique background in water and agriculture and I’ll still have that experience.”
The constituents of her district will understand the move, Curry believes. “Being the chair of the agriculture committee put me in a spot where sometimes I was expected to twist arms to get some things passed. But that’s not my style and I think the people in my district know that about me.
I didn’t use a strong-arm approach but most people in the district didn’t even know or care that I was the chair of the committee. I’ve got a district that is active, and titles don’t translate into power and respect. The people I represent know I will make decisions based on their needs.”
Curry pointed out that she couldn’t find an instance in Colorado’s history where an independent represented a house district. But she noted that in her district, 43 percent of the voters are not affiliated with a political party.
“I could see myself pursuing the write-in option in 2010,” Curry said. “Colorado has extremely tough rules in place to keep independents from running. An independent would have had to declare their intention last summer, some 15 months before the election. It will be tough. It’s almost impossible to win a write-in election but I think I have the support of the district voters.”
Curry said announcing her decision now was a conscious choice. “I felt it was the honorable way to approach it,” she explained. “It gives people who want to run through the party system time to gear up if they want. I felt it would have been dishonest of me to run as a Democrat in 2010 if I was having these misgivings, and I didn’t want to blindside the Democrats.”
Under the house rules, Curry said, she would have to be appointed to at least one committee. She said House Speaker Carroll tried to talk her out of the move. “He made some good points and I’ve never felt beat about the head because of how I’ve voted, but I felt being in a position of leadership there were times I felt I should have been more on board. Ultimately I knew I could always vote my district. It was just me feeling out of step with the party and I don’t want to subject myself to the party line on either side.”
Before Curry’s decision, Democrats held a 38-27 majority in the House. Curry represents District 61 made up of Gunnison, Eagle, Garfield, Hinsdale and Pitkin counties. She was first elected to the House in 2004.
“Ultimately, it will all work out,” Curry concluded. “I have to be true to myself. I’ve been thinking about it for about a year. The dysfunction was getting to me and it wasn’t how I wanted to do my job.”