Provided by DeGette staff

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, whose district includes Mile High stadium, at the Denver Broncos-Baltimore Ravens game today.

UPDATE: No comment.

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette’s family has had season tickets to the Denver Broncos since the early 1960s. Needless to say, the Denver Democrat is a huge fan.

She and Baltimore Congressman John Sarbanes made a friendly wager for today’s game: If the Ravens win, DeGette will send tamales from La Casita in northwest Denver. If the Broncos win, she will be dining on crabcakes.

So will other Colorado politicians, including Gov. John Hickenlooper and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, who made their own wagers.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, shown here last year for a Denver Broncos rally before a playoff game.

It’s a swap of crab cakes and steaks.

Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake have ventured into the oh so popular terrain of … “wagers between politicians who represent areas that have teams in the NFL playoffs.”

As you all know, the Ravens and Broncos square-off Saturday afternoon in a AFC Divisional Playoff game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

If the Broncos win (which my colleague Tim Hoover has noted is likely), then Rawlings-Blake ships a platter of broiled crab cakes from J. W. Faidley Seafood in Baltimore’s historic Lexington Market. On the flip side, if the Ravens come out victorious, Hancock will send a box of dry aged “cowboy cut” rib eye steaks from Lombardi Brothers Meats.

“Denver is looking forward to an exciting game with the Ravens, and I expect an Orange Wave to come out on top at the end of the fourth quarter,” Hancock said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Rawlings-Blake said in a statement that “for five consecutive years, our Ravens have made the playoffs with an increasingly potent offense and historically dominant defense … I am excited to watch them win another game on the road to the Super Bowl.”

Not likely, Ms. Rawlings-Blake.

Read more…

It was an Orangefest/Blueapalooza at the state Capitol today as lawmakers and others donned Denver Broncos colors in honor of the playoff game Saturday against the Baltimore Ravens.

A few of the lawmakers even wore Broncos jerseys.

In the Senate, Republican Bill Cadman of Colorado Springs and jersey-clad Democrat Mike Johnston of Denver had getting the body to cheer “Broncos!” At the end, orange Broncos towels — no doubt the handiwork of Broncos lobbyist Bill Artist — came flying down from the third-floor gallery into the Senate chamber.

Senate GOP office

What time is it? That all depends when you’re in the Senate GOP office.

If you’re in the minority, the least you can do is have some fun, and Senate Republicans clearly are.

The GOP caucus has posted two clocks in its office. There’s real time (without Bill Maher) and then there’s Greg Brophy time.

The Wray senator is bringing back his bill to allow Colorado to stay on daylight saving time year. When he announced his proposal last year, the Denver Post was bombarded with phone calls and e-mails from Coloradans asking how they help Brophy with his proposal. Like him, they dislike the dark evenings and changing their clocks back an hour in November and forward an hour in March.

A similar effort died in 2011. The proposal this year would put the issue before voters in 2014, but first Brophy has to get it through a Democratic-controlled Senate committee.

Leah Millis, Special to The Denver Post

Our governor holding a glass of Colorado’s liquid gold.

As expected, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley have a wager in place for the Broncos-Ravens game on Saturday.

If the Broncos win (and of course, they will), O’Malley’s going to be shipping one dozen Chesapeake crabcakes to Hickenlooper. Maryland crabcakes are delicious, so Hickenlooper’s in for a treat.

But if the Broncos lose (and of course, they won’t), O’Malley’s going to get one dozen Colorado … lamb chops?

Yes, lamb chops instead of one dozen of our finest craft brews. And there are so many.

Read more…

Lori Brown, Senate GOP

New Sen. Owen Hill and his family with Senate President John Morse, right. The Hills, left to right, Kaiden, 7, Miette, 5, wife Emily Hill, holding Elinor, 2, and Sen. Hill, holding Ellis, 4. Hill, a Republican, and Morse, a Democrat, are both from Colorado Springs.

It seemed like any legislative opening-day picture: The Senate president with a new lawmaker and his family, but the snapshot of Republican Owen Hill and Democrat John Morse was much more than that.

Hill, a Republican, in 2010 tried to unseat Morse, a Democrat, seeking his second term in the state Senate. The Colorado Springs race was nasty and close but in the end Morse prevailed by 340 votes. Hill supporters believe he would have won if a Libertarian hadn’t been in the race.

Morse started his second term in 2011, the same year legislative boundaries had to be redrawn to reflect census changes over the decade. Hill was drawn into a different district and ran in 2012. He was sworn into office on opening day Wednesday, where he took his first vote: the election of Morse as Senate president.

Andy Cross, The Denver Post

Outgoing Colorado GOP chairman hands the gavel to newly elected chairman Ryan Call at the 2011 state central committee meeting.

Former state Republican Party chairman Dick Wadhams isn’t happy at how his successor portrayed the financial situation he inherited when he took over the job.

Wadhams said the announcement by Ryan Call that planned to seek another term as chair made it seem as if the party was in dire straights when Call took over from Wadhams in 2011.

“That’s just wrong, just wrong,” Wadhams said.

He said after the 2010 campaign the party had around $60,000 in debts and $20,000 in the bank, and efforts to pay off the debt were complicated by his decision not to seek another term.

Call, who served as the party’s legal counsel when Wadhams was chairman, said it was never his intent to make it sound as if he had inherited a mess.

“I am so sorry,” he said. “I am profoundly grateful for the opportunities Dick gave me.”

Read more…

House Democrats

Speaker Mark Ferrandino, center, is flanked by other state lawmakers who have served in the powerful post. From left to right, Ruben Valdez, Frank McNulty, Ferrandino, Terrance Carroll and Andrew Romanoff.

UPDATE: Folks, we’ve had a woman speaker of the House, Republican Lola Spradley, who served in the 2003 and 2004 sessions. Not all previous speakers are pictured here.

When Democrat Mark Ferrandino of Denver became speaker of the House on Wednesday, four of his predecessors where there to witness the event.

Republican Frank McNulty of Highlands Ranch handed over the gavel; the GOP lost the majority in the November election. McNulty had succeeded Democrat Terrance Carroll of Denver, who served one term as speaker and was term limited in 2010.

Carroll followed Democrat Andrew Romanoff of Denver, who presided over the House for four years and is still known for his smarts and one-liners. Romanoff became speaker in 2005 after Democrats won control of the House for the first time since the 1974 election. That’s when Ruben Valdez became speaker for one term.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post

Gov. John Hickenlooper founded Wynkoop Brewery.

For the third year in a row, Gov. John Hickenlooper has mentioned beer in his State of the State speech, which should come as no surprise:

In 1988, Hickenlooper founded the Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver’s first craft brewery and the state’s first brewpub, located in Lower Downtown.

Today:

Some have suggested a divided government — that is, divided chambers — has been a blessing for our administration. They say I got lucky, but I don’t see it that way.

Our blessing was not divided government in the last two years; our blessing was in the many relationships we formed with lawmakers from both parties and that you have with each other. These relationships endure. They span the geography of our state and they transcend political affiliation.

And they’ve been nourished by our working together, helped along every once in awhile by a cold Colorado beer.

Read more…

Gov. John Hickenlooper addressed the 69th Colorado General Assembly Thursday.

In his almost 45-minute speech, Hickenlooper hit on several issues, including voicing his support for universal background checks on gun sales here in Colorado.

State legislative reporter Lynn Bartels offers her analysis of Hickenlooper’s third state of the state address.

Follow Kurtis on Twitter: @kurtisalee