The University of Northern Colorado Faculty Senate will sponsor an informational forum with Solomon Little Owl, senate candidate for District 13, and Tom Griggs, candidate for the State Board of Education, at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at Centennial Hall, located in Brown Hall, near the intersection of 9th Avenue and 19th Street.

Candidates Marilyn Musgrave, Angie Paccione and Scott Renfroe were invited to participate in separate candidate forums but declined to participate. Bob Schaffer (candidate for the State Board of Education) was also invited but will be unable to attend because of schedule constraints.

Co-sponsors for the forum are the State Personnel Employees Executive Council, Professional Administrative Staff Council, Student Representative Council and the UNC chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

Too bad more candidates won’t be appearing.

The Trib website has an article today about SD13 candidates Scott Renfroe and Solomon Little Owl. Sounds like there was a debate Monday night (of course the Trib only tells us aftewards, but that’s another complaint).

The article contains profiles of both candidates, listing both of their websites. Renfroe has a reasonably professional website at http://www.scottrenfroe.com/. Little Owl? He has a myspace page.

The sad part, not only did he use myspace for a campaign website, he only has two friends. How sad is a candidate for elected office that can only get TWO friends.

After further digging, I did find a link to a real website, too bad he couldn’t get the Greeley Tribune to print a link to that one.

According to the Weld County Election Results, Scott Renfroe won the Colorado Senate District 13 Republican primary yesterday.

Final vote tally was
Scott W. Renfroe 4584 58%
Dale K. Hall 3256 42%

Total separation was only 1328 votes with approximately 22 percent of registered voters showing up for the primary, down from 35.5 percent turnout in 2004. The reduced percentage may have been due to the Renfroe/Hall election being the only one of consequence on the ballot.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office is predicting a voter turnout of 15 percent for the primary. 15%? That’s it?

Personally, I’ve never understood why anyone would

A. Not register to vote
or
B. Not vote

It’s not like it’s a big chore (OK, so it was last fall thanks to the County’s new ‘voting centers’, but normally it’s better).

The thing to remember here is the prediction is that only 15% of registered voters will vote in the upcoming primaries. This means that in a hotly contested race like SD-13 a handful of votes could easily change the outcome. If you are registered GO VOTE IN THE PRIMARY. I’m guessing the Renfroe/Hall election is going to be the most exciting thing around here this year (unless you think Solomon Little Owl is going to stand up to either of these guys).

It’s beginning to look like the most heated political race in the Greeley area is going to be decided next Tuesday. Scott Renfroe and Dale Hall will be squaring off for the Republican Nomination for SD-13.

While Hall has been a legislator for some time serving both as a Weld County Commissioner and two terms as a Colorado State Representative. Although an experienced politician (by most of his campaign material, his major campaign platform) some are concerned that Hall is not the conservative Republican many locals would like. He has come under heavy fire for his support of Referendum C and is being accused of being a RINO.

Renfroe on the other hand is more of an average guy. Conservative Republican, anti-abortion, anti-government bloat and has never held an elected office. He owns a local construction business giving him unusual insight on the impact of illegal immigrants on the area. Scott even has the support of Marilyn Musgrave and Bill Armstrong. On the other hand, Hall’s biggest endorsement has come from controversial governor Bill Owens.

Living in Greeley and watching this election is an interesting experience. The Tribune has many editorials supporting Hall, each touting his experience. I see a fancy vintage pickup with Hall’s banner on the side all over town. Renfroe seems to be a bit more grass roots, his biggest campaigners seem to be wearing Scott Renfroe t-shirts while shopping at the local Wal-Mart.

This election will show if it’s still possible for a grassroots unknown to beat out an experienced long-time politician. Remember, go vote in the primary on August 8. Your vote could change the election.

The Greeley Tribune had some reader editorials on Scott Renfroe, Angie Paccione and Dale Hall.

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, except for one comment.  What does it say about a person if the only qualification they have worth talking about is experience?