This evening, I went to the campaign kickoff for Diana Allen, who is a current city councilor for Lakewood ward 5. I was hoping to get a little bit of insight on fundraisers in person to develop a better understanding of the campaign process at a local level. Diana had replied at city council to my speech regarding partisan influence by using the example of her reelection committee being half democrats and half republicans. I found this to be an understatement.

While attending this fundraiser, I had the privilege of meeting some state legislators such as Betty Boyd, Andy Kerr, Ken Summers, and Max Tyler. Most of the time was spent socializing, meeting people, and eating snacks until one point when Diana, former mayor Steve Burkholder, and current mayor Bob Murphy stood up and spoke for 10 minutes or so.

When you think about legislature, the first thing that comes to mind is Republicans and Democrats fighting with each other over issues. Colorado is one of those states where the parties seem to be drifting apart which would lead one to think that the bickering and divisiveness would be much greater. This was not observed at Diana Allen's' fundraiser. Burkholder spoke about the non-partisan nature of city races, making a contrast to being a senator or a representative for the state. Laughter broke out and jokes ensued between the group of legislators, who are on different sides of the political isle from one another saying that they were not so partisan, implying professional friendships among them. It was great to see this type of interaction between partisan leaders and seeing them all there to support the same candidate. It showed the promise of the city council race, in ward 5 at least, to be non-partisan.

Good luck Diana!

Thomas