Today, Sen. Bill Cadman was elected President of the Colorado State Senate. He was unopposed, which is not surprising given the respect and admiration he’s garnered during his tenure in the state Senate. We offer Cadman a hearty congratulations on a well-deserved “promotion”.
To celebrate this exciting event, Cadman passed out #18 Broncos jerseys. Number 18 happens to be Broncos Quarterback Peyton Manning’s number. The significance of the number 18? It’s the number of GOP Senators in the Colorado State Senate – the number that delivered the Senate majority to Republicans for the first time in a decade.
In case you haven’t come across Sen. Cadman, he is best-known for his humor, but also his dedication to the people of Colorado. Or, as The Denver Post‘s Lynn Bartels put it:
Brace yourself. The Senate for the next two years will be run by @SenBillCadman, a guy with a quick wit and deep soul. #copolitics #coleg
— Lynn Bartels (@lynn_bartels) November 8, 2014
Cadman was first elected to the Colorado House in 2000, where he served as the Majority Whip in the 2003-2004 legislative session. He served in the House until he was appointed to take Republican State Sen. Ron May’s spot in 2007. He easily won his seat in 2008.
Cadman laid out his priority for his tenure as “building a better Colorado”. If Cadman applies the same leadership to Colorado that he has in the Senate over the past few years, we know we’ll be in good hands.
Other Senate members in leadership include the following:
- Sen. Ellen Roberts, Senate President Pro Tem
- Sen. Mark Scheffel, Senate Majority Leader
- Sen. Kevin Lundberg, Assistant Majority Leader
- Sen. Randy Baumgardner, Whip
- Sen. Vicki Marble, Caucus Chair
The new Senate leadership represents a unified (see jerseys), yet diverse crew. Diverse in ideology, in geography, and in gender, yet unified in purpose. Bartels seemed to approve, in particular, of the Roberts election on Twitter:
Smart, smart, smart move by @ColoSenGOP to put Ellen Roberts in leadership, top spot. #coleg#copolitics
— Lynn Bartels (@lynn_bartels) November 11, 2014
Sen. Cadman also appointed Republican Sens. Grantham and Lambert to the Joint Budget Committee. Sen. Lambert will chair the influential committee.
The Senate leadership announcements follow elections in the Colorado State House. Rep. Brian DelGrosso was elected unanimously to serve again as Minority Leader. Rep. Libby Szabo also was elected unanimously to serve as Assistant Minority Leader. Rep. Polly Lawrence was unanimously elected to serve as Minority Whip, and Rep. Lois Landgraf will serve as Caucus Chairwoman.
Rep. DelGrosso offered the following statement on his re-election:
“I am grateful to have the support and confidence from the House Republicans to continue to serve as Caucus Leader. We have made positives strides as a caucus and have significantly closed the gap between Republicans and Democrats in the House. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to advance the free market principles vital to Colorado’s continued recovery.”
Congratulations to all!