November 11, 2006 - Election Night
Remarks of Gov. Bill Ritter
Gov. Ritter's Election Night Speech
November 7, 2006
Thank you, Colorado!
Eighteen months ago this campaign started with a small little group of supporters. And look at us now!
To the voters of Colorado - thank you. This is an honor and a privilege.
The best way to say thank you is to govern well. And that is absolutely what Barbara O'Brien and I intend to do.
We have been given a rare opportunity to govern differently, to govern the way we campaigned, to say that every place in Colorado, every person in Colorado, matters.
We are going to govern a unified and united Colorado. This is one state. This is not urban vs. rural. This is not Western Slope vs. Front Range. This is not even Republican vs. Democrat.
We don't fulfill the Colorado Promise as Democrats. We fulfill it together as Coloradans.
I said this in Greeley when I accepted the nomination: That this election would be about the cynics vs. those who hope. I had no idea how right I would be. Fortunately, the hopeful - those who want to walk with us and work with us to fulfill the Colorado Promise - prevailed.
But we must not forget the cynics. We must convert them and give them reason to hope.
We have a rare opportunity to close the partisan divide and do what's best for this one state. We will do that by looking for the common ground, staying true to the center and always doing what is right and what is responsible.
I will govern this state as a gatekeeper on good public policy. We will do what's best for the entire state so that we can deliver on the Colorado Promise for all Coloradans ... so that we can solve real problems.
- The Colorado Promise means we will reform our education system.
- The Colorado Promise means we will create a Colorado Health Plan and provide those 770,000 people without insurance some basic form of health care.
- The Colorado Promise means we will establish a New Energy Economy and make Colorado a national and global renewable energy leader.
- The Colorado Promise means we will serve as stubborn stewards of our environment.
- And the Colorado we turn over to our children and our grandchildren will not be inferior to the one we found.
- Is this ambitious? Is it bold and daring? Absolutely. We only achieve our goals - we only fulfill the Colorado Promise - by having the courage and the determination to try.
- Pause...
- Campaigns are always hardest on our families. I would like to thank my wife, Jeannie, and my children, Tally, Sam, Abe and August for coming along on this journey and letting me go off to "war" - because that's what this was like.
- I also need to thank my mom and the army of Ritter siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews who got involved and helped bring this home. Wherever we went, I could always count on a Ritter showing up.
- I also need to thank the dozens of interns and volunteers who gave this campaign just an incredible sense of youth, energy and excitement. We could not have done this without them.
- We absolutely could not have done this without my incredible campaign staff. They were led by Greg Kolomitz and Sheila MacDonald, who put together and executed a tremendous campaign plan.
- Finally, let me close by saying this ... On our way back from Colorado Springs today, we drove past SkyRidge Medical Center. This morning, Keller Kuna and Trey Thomas were born at SkyRidge, just as there were babies born in hospitals all across Colorado. Keller, Trey and all those other babies represent the hope and promise of a new day, a clean slate. This election is about them. It's about their future. It's about fulfilling the Colorado Promise for them.
- Today is a new day. Tomorrow, we begin to fulfill the Colorado Promise...