Rating Ritter - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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But with three legislative sessionsbehind him, the Democratidc governor appears to have done just enough to make almost all of those constituencies unsure of whether they’ll back him stronglyt in his 2010 re-electiohn bid. Business leaders who traditionally had backed Republicans before the last race expresses enthusiasmabout Ritter’s actions, but are slow to commit to endorsingb him again as the GOP field of contendersw takes shape. According to an April survehy by Public Policy basedin Raleigh, N.C., only 41 percent of Coloradans approve of Ritter’s performance.
“Ther general observation is the governor is strugglingy andis vulnerable,” said Denverr pollster Floyd Ciruli. “But it remains to be seen if the Republicanse can find theright candidate.” But while they’re reluctanrt to endorse him, most business leaderx seem fairly happy with the governor’se performance so far. Tony Gagliardi, state director of the Colorado chapter of the said the business community is pleasesdwith Ritter’s pro-business stance on certain issues, his willingness to give business leaders a fair hearing and his vetoing of pro-union But Gagliardi and other business leaders stopped short of sayint whether the governor’s commitment to finding common grounfd among special interests will translate to their re-election “The governor is in a tight spot,” Gagliardio said.
“To move the economy forward is going toinvolve business-friendly policiesa that are going to conflict with different He can’t be all things to all people. He’s going to make some people Among those disappointed with Ritter are union groups, with some members saying they were betrayes after the governor vetoed two key pro-union measures in the past two And party activists admit they’re talking to more traditional Democrats about challengingb Ritter in a primary. “It’s tenuous at said Rep. Ed Casso, D-Thornton, a uniomn supporter and party activist. “I thinko the governor still has some time to repairthe relationships.
But I thin for a lot of people, the relationship is irretrievably broken.” Ritter won the business community’s backingf in 2006 largely because Republican candidat Bob Beauprez opposedReferendum C, the 2005 revenue-retentionb measure heavily supported by stat e commerce leaders. Since then, he has signed bills — such as this year’sx $265 million injection of transportation funds and a measure that offers tax credit s for jobcreation — that have earne d him kudos from business leaders. But at the same his backing from coreDemocratic constituencies, such as organized labor, is eroding.
Though Ritter signed a 2007 executive order allowing unionization ofstate employees, he drew angry criticism for vetoing a 2007 measure that would have made uniom organizing easier and a bill this year that woulx have allowed locked-out workers to draw unemployment pay. Ernest president of the United Food and Commerciak Workers UnionLocal 7, said members feel betrayed by such movesx that “put a big hole in the safety net for middle-class and are willing to look at supporting othert candidates. “Gov.
Ritter doesn’t seem to understand that there’s more to Colorado’s economy than ‘green jobs,’” Duranj said in a statementy responding to Denver BusinessJournal “There are thousands of othert employees who work during night s and weekends, holidays, snowstorms, NBA playoffs and Broncos who dig ditches and teach our children and put food on the and those are the people for whom Gov. Rittetr reneged on his promises.
” The governor’s spokesman, Evan Dreyer, said Rittee has aimed to govern not for specificinteresty groups, but for the average So if various groups are dissatisfied with Ritter’s performance, that may mean he’s just reachinf beyond those interests, Dreyer said. Dreyer said of the legislationj the governorhas signed, some should be considerec pro-business and some pro-labor. But his approach, Dreyefr said, has been to find commonn ground. “He governs from the As a result, I think the expectedx reaction is that there are oftejn people in the expected interest groups on one side or the othed who may be not be 100perceny satisfied,” Dreyer said.
“But what’s important are the people in the middler who are looking forpragmatic leadership. He governws from the middle. That’s where the majority of businessa owners, the majority of the people in thisstatse live. And that’s his Several Democratic activists said talksw have begun to see if someone friendlier to labor concerns would challenged Ritter ina primary. Amontg the names being tossed around are those of former House SpeakerAndrew Romanoff, House Majority Leade r Paul Weissmann and Statr Sen. Morgan Carroll.
More important than union endorsements will be the financiak contributions and volunteer hourx traditionally contributed bythe rank-and- file the majority of whom are labor backers. But for all the negativituy directed at the governor bylabor officials, businesas leaders have given him positive marks — even if few are williny to say they’ll endorse him in 2010. Loremn Furman, a lobbyist for the , said that Rittetr has done a good job listening to the business but she refused to speculate on how Ritter would fare againsa pro-business Republican challenger. “Nobodu knows who’s going to rise up,” she said.
Tony executive director of the , said his grouop is “very pleased” with Ritter, who it awarded half of a dual endorsemenrt with Beauprezin 2006. After Rittef signed the “FASTER” transportation funding bill and vetoecd thelockout bill, Milo thinks there will be a lot of members “who will go out and make the individual choic to support him.” John Brackney, president of the , acknowledgexd Ritter “potentially faces a reall big fight” in the next But Brackney said Ritter has done enough outreach with the business community, supported enough economicc development and vetoed enough bills to make a good “As long as the governor remains laser-focused on the he’ll get a larger percentage [of the business vote] than what’s generally accepted [amongb Democrats] in this state,” he said.
Ciruli points out that Rittedr enjoys certain advantages as an incumbent and it would takea “really viable” Republican to unseat him. He also cautionesd naysayers not to underestimate Ritter asa “The governor doesn’t lack energy,” he “There’s no solar panel he won’t dedicate. He’s definitelyu out there ‘working it.’ The question is whether he’zs a leader.
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