It’s a political ticket that, it would seem, is looking —better than most—with less than a hundred days before the general election. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who defeated U.S. Senator Michael Bennet for the right to seek the Democratic nomination for Governor, chose Jefferson County Commissioner Lesley Dahlkemper as his running mate.
The announcement introducing Dahlkemper was made last Wednesday at State Democratic Headquarters in Denver. Both Democratic party leaders, including former Colorado Lieutenant Governor Joe Garcia along with a number of Republicans praised Weiser for his choice.
Dahlkemper brings to the ticket years of public service. She is completing her second four-year term as a Jeffco Commissioner and before that served as President of the Jefferson County School Board.
Weiser said he selected the Jeffco public official because her experience gave him confidence. “(She’s) someone who can step in and serve Colorado ably as Governor,” he said. He called her “a partner who will be able to make a huge impact as we confront critical challenges,” including drought and its impact on wildfires, water issues, community safety, early childhood education and concern from people who are “wondering whether they can afford to live in Colorado.”
While Dahlkemper has represented Jefferson County as a commissioner since 2018, the same year Weiser won election as Colorado Attorney General, she has also worked outside Jefferson County on issues that unite its neighbors. Weiser, who was Attorney General has prosecuted large scale drug operations, cited Dahlkemper’s work as chair of the Gateway to the Rockies Opioid Council as an example of her wide-ranging experience. Drugs, he said, and their ravages, know no boundaries including county lines. He said “she will be extraordinary” in the job.
Weiser’s choice of Dahlkemper was somewhat unexpected. Tradition and common wisdom usually hold that the Lieutenant Governor is usually from a different part of the state to create a geographic balance. Both Weiser and Dahlkemper live in the metro area. Weiser said his new running mate has both the style and the experience to overcome any geographic hurdles.
“I know local leaders from across the state who have worked with Lesley,” said Weiser, “and what they have said about her and what she has done, speak volumes. We’re not getting someone who will need a long learning curve. We’re getting someone who knows the range of issues.”
Dahlkemper came to Colorado from her native Chicago in 1989 to take a position at Colorado Public Radio where she worked for eight years. She left to work in communications for a Washington, D.C. educational firm in its Denver office before leaving to run her own company which focused on educational issues.
As a working journalist for ten years and more recently as a county commissioner, Dahlkemper said she has walked with and worked with public officials from all across the state learning their issues and lending her expertise. She said confidence in addressing statewide issues, whether as a school board president or county commissioner requires first listening, then collaboration.
Jefferson County, for example, has many of the same challenges with wildfire and drought as Teller County, where fires recently took their toll. “It may look different from community to community…but when it comes to county commissioners, we roll up our sleeves, get the work done and listen to each other and work with our statewide organizations, as well” to solve mutual issues.
But while Dahlkemper was raised in Chicago, she spent many of her early summers with family in Walsenburg. So, she says, while not a native, her family with its generational roots in southern Colorado, has given her a lifelong connection to the state. Her summer vacations to the state with her father, she said, “was a very special tie and special part of my life.”
If elected, it is expected that Weiser will also ask Dahlkemper to serve in his cabinet doing another job just as the past several Lieutenant Governors have done. Current Lieutenant Governor Dianne Primavera represents Governor Polis on a number of programs, including eHealth Innovation and his Office of Saving People Money on Health Care.
Weiser and Dahlkemper’s opponent for Governor, Victor Marx, has not yet named a running mate.
