Valerie Richardson

Blacks lead both houses in Colo.

Terrance Carroll and Peter C. Groff can be forgiven if they're secretly annoyed with the president-elect for stealing their thunder. The two Coloradans are about to make history as the first blacks to preside over both houses of a state legislature in the same session.

January 6, 2009

Gay marriage backers target New England

Two New England states have already legalized same-sex marriage, and a Boston-based advocacy group wants to see the other four join them.

January 4, 2009

Colo. GOP sees 2010 election boost

It's hard to say who was feeling luckier after the Senate announcement in Colorado Saturday:

January 4, 2009

Denver educator eyed for Salazar’s Senate seat

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. stunned the state's political establishment Friday after word leaked that he planned to name Denver's little-known schools chief to succeed Sen. Ken Salazar, the Interior secretary nominee.

January 3, 2009

Unions clash with cost-cutting state legislators

Unions invested heavily in the 2008 election in Colorado, and it paid off: The labor movement defeated three anti-labor initiatives, including a right-to-work measure, and helped Democrats increase their edge in Congress and the Legislature.

December 30, 2008

Denver axes mascot ‘Boone’ in diversity drive

Many universities have come under pressure to reject their American Indian mascots, but in what may be a first, the University of Denver has ditched a non-Indian mascot on the grounds he wasn't sufficiently diverse.

December 27, 2008

Candidates aplenty for Salazar’s seat

DENVER | When Ken Salazar leaves the Senate to head the Interior Department, as expected, there won't be any shortage of prominent Colorado Democrats to succeed him.

December 19, 2008

Greens worry Obama will drop their cause

Environmentalists fear their top priority - a national climate-change policy - will be sidetracked in Congress by concerns over the slumping economy.

December 16, 2008

Exclusive millionaires club falls on hard times

Nobody in Montana is laughing at the millionaires-only Yellowstone Club as it struggles to stay open after declaring bankruptcy. It's more like smirking.

November 28, 2008

Book fans descend on town’s ‘Twilight’ zone

Strange, previously unseen creatures have overrun this tiny logging burg, creeping through its neighborhoods and staring at the town's high school. The locals have a name for these otherworldly beings: "Twilight" fans.

November 20, 2008

Gay rights left on sidelines after election

The 2008 election was a success for nearly every segment of the Democratic coalition, with one stark exception: gay rights advocates. The same voters who backed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and defeated conservative ballot measures on issues such as abortion, assisted suicide and marijuana legalization suddenly veered from the script when it came to advancing rights for gays.

November 18, 2008

Obama helped defeat anti-affirmative action

Ward Connerly says his anti-affirmative-action movement wouldn't have taken its first ballot defeat if not for a buzzsaw named Barack Obama.

November 8, 2008

Blacks, youths turn out; vote record holds

Tuesday's presidential election was historic for many reasons, but achieving the record-shattering voter turnout many expected wasn´t one of them.

November 6, 2008

Obama’s key state victories flip electoral map

President-elect Barack Obama's victories in previous Republican states Tuesday night transformed the red-blue electoral map that has helped define the nation's regional political bent for the last few presidential elections.

November 5, 2008

Changes expected to red-blue electoral map

The red-blue electoral map that has helped define the nation's regional political bent is expected to look quite different after Tuesday's presidential vote.

November 4, 2008

Moderation not key for GOP incumbent

Republican Sen. Gordon H. Smith has compiled one of the most moderate voting records in the Senate during his two terms, but that may not be enough to win over voters in this increasingly "blue" state.

November 3, 2008

In Washington, ‘change’ is red word

Like many of this year's candidates, Washington gubernatorial hopeful Dino Rossi is running on a message of change aimed at voters dissatisfied with the political status quo.

October 28, 2008

Palin’s makeover cost RNC thousands

Gov. Sarah Palin's maverick image as a moose-hunting "hockey mom" took more hits this week with disclosures about her campaign-bought Neiman Marcus wardrobe and her charging the state for some of her children's travel expenses in 2006.

October 23, 2008

Candidates’ all-out push in final 2 weeks

The John McCain for President headquarters here is exactly what you'd expect in a town of 10,000 planted on the southern rim of the Gila National Forest.

October 21, 2008

Bush sets high bar for service initiatives

When it comes to national service and volunteerism, President Bush will be a tough act to follow.

October 12, 2008