Local News

Republican Tim Kauffman was working as a commercial banker when he was called in 2008 and asked to replace newly elected Commissioner Faye Griffin as Jeffco treasurer. And though he was not new to politics, it took a bit of coaxing before he agreed to fill the office.

Anticipating his re-election in November, state Sen. Mike Kopp has some big plans for his next term in the legislature. But with the possibility of the Democratic majority holding its edge, Kopp’s blueprint for shrinking Colorado’s government could face a challenge.

Kopp, a Republican who is up for re-election this year in South Jeffco’s District 22, was running unopposed until a few weeks ago, when Conifer Democrat Mike Daniels threw his hat into the ring at virtually the last minute.

South Jeffco Democrat John Flerlage began his lengthy campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman in early 2009, only months after the newly elected congressman had taken office. With the general election now just four months away, Flerlage is confident he can sway voters in the historically Republican 6th District — despite having raised a fraction of the funds that Coffman has.

South Jeffco resident Don Rosier doesn’t have a political background, but the Republican says his experience as a government outsider makes him uniquely qualified to run for the District 3 seat on the Board of Commissioners.

Rosier, a Jeffco Public Schools graduate, has worked for two decades as a civil engineer, dealing with development, water use and budgeting. Rosier is challenging incumbent Democrat Kathy Hartman in the November election.