Face The State Staff Report
With a touch of funk, a lot of spunk, and allies on both sides of the political aisle, Denver's Josh Hanfling is gunning for his second political bid in less than a year. And while he once again finds himself a longshot, he's managing to turn a lot of heads.
Hanfling
Hanfling, a 41-year-old entrepreneur and philanthropist, is well known among those frequenting Denver's active charity ball circuit. Earlier this year, he also staked a place in the front yards of many Denver Denver households, waging a lively yard sign battle in a three-way primary race to replace term-limited House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, in Colorado's 6th state House District.
Insiders say Hanfling's bid was derailed by two key factors - his refusal to step aside for presumed frontrunner Lois Court, who was eventually elected by voters in November's general election, and his former status as a Republican. While Court wears school-mom sweaters, Hanfling can be seen in hip blazers and button downs, as if he's fresh off lunch at Elway's. Despite spending more than twice as much as his opponents, Hanfling still came in third in the August primary. He raised nearly $140,000 without self funding and was one of only a handful of state House and Senate candidates to raise over $100,000.
“I wasn’t partisan enough for that district,” said Hanfling, who added his former affiliation with the GOP was made an issue in the race. “The Republican Party moved further right than I am,” Hanfling said. “I realized I’m very moderate.”
After his loss to Court, however, Hanfling remains undeterred about his political ambitions. Just last week, he threw his name into the hat as one of 20 Coloradans applying to replace outgoing Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who is heading to Washington to represent Colorado's 6th Congressional District. Gov. Bill Ritter will name his successor, but instead of taking the traditional road of just appointing a replacement for Coffman, he took the unusual step of soliciting applications.
Born in New Haven, Conn., Hanfling got his start in politics when he was just five-years old. His mother was running for city alderman, and the younger Hanfling campaigned for her. His father is also no stranger to the campaign grind, having helped Sen. Joe Liberman, I-Conn., get elected early in Liberman’s career.
After earning a management degree from Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., Hanfling moved to Colorado where he has started and sold a string of successful businesses. Currently, Hanfling is part owner of the Cherry Creek hot spot Campo de Fiori, and his latest business venture has been to start his own marketing firm, the AMMA Group, of which he is the CEO.
Hanfling cites his diverse background and ability to be non-partisan as a few of the attributes that qualify him to serve as Secretary of State. Though he is Jewish, Hanfling attended an Episcopalian boarding school where he meet his best friend, who is Arab.
Even though he switched parties and is now a Democrat, Hanfling maintains friends in influential Republican and libertarian circles. “It surprised me to discover he was a Democrat because he’s someone I’ve always seen as more conservative because he is a small business owner,” said Julie Mallon, development director at the libertarian-leaning Independence Institute, who knows Hanfling through the Denver charity circuit.
Mallon recalled the last time she saw Hanfling, he sang karaoke to a suggestive song while wearing a blond wig at National Jewish Hospital’s Cocktails and Karaoke fundraiser. “He raised $1,000 for doing it,” she said. Hanfling has sat on more than 20 charity, non-profit, and business boards and organizations throughout his career.
Hanfling is a close friend of Denver attorney and active Republican John Zakhem. “I know there are more famous folks gunning for Secretary of State, but Josh deserves serious consideration,” said Zakhem, referring to other applicants such as Romanoff and Sen. Ken Gordon, D-Denver.
In five years, Hanfling says he sees himself "serving the state in some capacity." Regardless of his fate, many will be watching.
Hanfling has my respect
On November 26th, 2008 CentristInTheCity says:
I got to know more about Josh during his run for Romanoff's seat this year and he earned my respect. His views on most issues are pretty moderate and he doesn't fit into the cookie-cutter mold for either the Dems or the GOP. He got beat up by the Dems for being too pro-business and by the GOP for being too liberal on the social issues. He's one of the most non-partisan people I've seen run and was always just talking about the results being what mattered which I'm sure comes from his business background and work with so many nonprofits. If the Dems were to ever wake-up to the reality that this is still a pretty moderate state with a libertarian streak and fully embrace Hanfling, he could be a very formidable statewide candidate for them. On the other side, if the GOP ever got back to a party that wasn't controlled by the religious right who welcomed moderates like Giuliani and Schwarzenegger, people like Hanfling could be our future. I don't see either happening, so maybe he should just declare that he's an independent. If forced to put him in one party or the other given where both party's are now, I'd have to say he's a Dem. I'll take his type of Dem over the loons on the left or the crazies on the right whether he puts a D or an R in front of his name.
As far as the Secretary of State slot, I'd much rather see Hanfling there than one of the partisan hacks like Gordon or Romanoff. Shouldn't be a lot of partisanship in that office and would be nice to see somebody who is going there to make things run better and not to push their own political agenda.
Josh is not a Dem
On November 25th, 2008 davebarnes says:
Josh declaring himself a Dem is like Sarah Palin declaring herself a vegan.
Josh should be/declare himself a Repub and stand up for traditional Repub values (such as holding the Union together and not supporting secession à la Todd Palin).
I like Josh, but think he is being chicken-shit by doing the Dem thing.