Panel OKs unaffiliated candidate bill
Durango Herald - Joe Hanel
Secretary of State Bernie Buescher gave a push Monday to a bill that helps future unaffiliated candidates.
His support helped House Bill 1271 pass the House Judiciary Committee 11-0.
La Plata County Commissioner Joelle Riddle testified for the bill Friday. But in its current form, the bill would not help Riddle or the bill's sponsor, Rep. Kathleen Curry, an unaffiliated lawmaker from Gunnison.
Both Riddle and Curry disassociated from the Democratic Party last year after the deadline to qualify for the 2010 ballot as an unaffiliated candidate.
Curry's bill would change the deadline to the first business day in January of an election year. It would take effect in 2012.
Curry and Riddle are both running for re-election as write-in, unaffiliated candidates. Curry acknowledged that Republicans could try to amend the bill later to let it apply to 2010 candidates, in order to split the Democratic vote in her district. But she doubts the tactic would work for Republicans because it would increase her own chances.
She and Riddle are suing Buescher to get the deadlines changed for current candidates. Buescher said Monday that he supports HB 1271, but he made sure to tell the committee he was not commenting on the lawsuit.
“I believe it's a workable bill from our vantage point in the Secretary of State's office," Buescher said.
Curry thanked Buescher for his support.
“He's obviously the expert on this. If the opposite had been true - if he'd been opposed - it would have called into question how workable the bill was," Curry said.
The full House is the next stop for the bill.