Colorado’s Year of the Woman: 2019
It matters whether we win or lose in 2018. Because 2019 is when we will get our chance to change the game.
The Primary isn’t even over, but “2018 is the Year of the Woman” is already a hackneyed maxim, not just in Colorado, but nationwide. It is a true one, though. Women are active in politics and seeking office in greater numbers than ever before. And when the pundits talk about women, mostly, they mean Progressive women, Democratic women.
Readers, it means you and me. We are proud and grateful for the men who are marching with us and working with us, but if you look at the progressive group memberships, whether it’s Weathervane subscribers, Indivisible members, or the ground teams of the Democratic Party, women are the ones who are out in force. We write the letters, we send the postcards, we make the calls. We give our time. The Resistance is our hobby and our profession and our vocation. Best of all, our children are following in our footsteps. We all are busy creating the Year of the Woman.
But look how tall are the women who have sprung from our grass roots to be our leaders! Look at the ones who have never run for office before. Look at the lives they are leaving behind, to network and stump, as they did in the 96-degree heat at the Parker Days street fair last weekend.
Simone Aiken, State House District 44
Simone will tell you that “ The biggest problems of today don’t care if you are a Republican or a Democrat.” And her Red-and-Blue handshake logo embodies her commitment to that credo.
Simone is a commanding woman. An honors Computer Science graduate of the Colorado School of Mines, her career as a software developer has taken her through industries from health insurance to rocket science. WTF Board Members Chiu-Ki Chan and I, both computer scientists ourselves, were tempted to geek out sitting with her in the Democrats’ booth at Parker Days. But what does her campaign emphasize? Not the importance of high technology. She wants the return of respect, honor, and civility to government. “I will not run on spite,” she says.
Lesley Smith, CU Board of Regents (At Large)
Lesley Smith is a limnologist. I had to ask: limnology is the study of the chemical, biological, and physical properties of inland bodies of water. She loves to talk about her science, as I learned after meeting her at Parker Days. I’m always happy to oblige that impulse! Especially since she’s an explorer as well as a thinker. She was the first woman aquanaut to live and work in the Aquarius underwater lab. Wow!
But Dr. Smith is just as passionate about education, and is running to change CU’s approach in important ways. She’ll fight for state funding that will make CU an affordable option again. She’ll fight for emphasizing critical thinking skills in the curriculum so that students can get the most out of their education. It’s too bad we didn’t have more critical thinkers voting in November 2016!
Karen McCormick, DVM. US Congress, Colorado 4th District
I met Dr. Karen McCormick more than a year ago, when she began attending our weekly Win The Fourth meetings. She was still testing the waters about a Congressional run. She and I carpooled to Denver to attend a day-long training for women considering running for public office, put on by Emerge Colorado. At the time I was not considering running for office, but wanted to know how to run a campaign. Whether she knew she was ready or not, Dr. McCormick acted like a candidate that day, networking with the other aspirants around us, honing in on the segments on fundraising and reporting, and drawing inspiration from the speakers.
Ironically, I ended up becoming a candidate myself (for Longmont City Council) by the time Karen announced her Congressional bid. Without being asked, she showed up to canvass and distribute flyers for me, stand at intersections waving signs, the whole deal. By the time I was sworn on to the Longmont Council, I had Karen’s stump speech memorized, and she had already raised more money (still in 2017) than the 2016 Democratic candidate for CD4 brought in during the entire 2015–16 season. There is no doubt that Dr. McCormick will be a hard worker in Congress.
Danielle Kombo
In 2016, the infamous Patrick Neville, darling of the Chambers of Commerce and sworn enemy of Women’s Health, ran unopposed for the House Seat that represents Castle Rock and environs. But this year, watch out! Danielle Kombo is Neville’s opposite in just about every way we can think of.
Neville is for arming teachers. Not Danielle! She’s endorsed by Moms Demand Action and Colorado Ceasefire. Neville is for repealing Connect for Health Colorado. Not Danielle! Her decade of experience in the healthcare field taught her better than that. She knows public health and safety are our #1 priority. Neville wants to stop taxing business property. Danielle wants to fix TABOR so that Colorado can keep up with its booming economy in education and infrastructure. Watch out, Paddy. Here comes Danielle!
The Year of The Woman —
Six months ago, this publication ran a lament titled Who Will Oppose Senator Sonnenberg? At that time, the current occupant of Colorado Senate District 1, Jerry Sonnenberg, a Colorado Republican who might as well be Tim Neville’s big brother, was being lambasted by the Libertarian press for actually sponsoring some sane legislation to save CD4’s rural hospitals. We thought we might as well pile on, little expecting that any candidate would be brave enough to to take on Jerry for real. But in the Year of the Woman, none of these entrenched conservatives are running unopposed. Deb Gustafson stepped up to announce her candidacy at the CD4 District Assembly this year. And even though we can’t really take credit for her running, WTF Colorado surely does applaud it. We’re behind you, Debra! And what’s that we see? Cary Kennedy is right beside you. We got this!
— 2019!
These women have extraordinary qualifications, experience, courage, and vibrancy. None of them (Cary Kennedy excepted, of course) have held office before. So why aren’t we saying 2018, the year we will vote on these candidates, is the Year of the Woman? It’s because we’re looking ahead to the explosion they will cause when they take their offices and set to work. It’s because of this:
- Women in office are more collaborative, transparent, and effective than men.
- Women introduce more bills in areas like civil rights, health care, and education.
- In this election, Democratic women candidates outnumber Republicans by about three to one.
And it’s one more thing. It’s attitude. A woman, a progressive woman, is grandmother to the world. She’s serving because she must. She’s guarding her young. She’s saving the planet. Hers is a force that overwhelms petty, patriarchal motives like power, money, and notoriety. Hers is the ideology of preservation, of compassion, of everything that makes us human. We all share these values, but it’s women who get up and do them.
So when we are represented in office, in fair numbers, in proportionate numbers, by the tough, brilliant, dutiful women written up here, the change will come. These are the women (and apologies to the ones we couldn’t fit in) who will save our cities, save our state, and save Democracy. We will stop the tyrants and oppressors in their tracks, and little by little we will drive them back into the hole they crawled from. In 2019, when our candidates take their oaths, comes the Year of the Women.
