Face the State

Face The State Staff Report

While Democrats hailed the latest legislative session as a success, at least one party worker is defecting after disagreeing with some of her party's actions under the Capitol dome.

Jean Gadberry, 29, a former single mom and working student, spent her final semester this spring interning for the Senate Democrats in their policy and press office.

GadberrySpecial to FTS

While Gadberry said she loved her internship, she learned through her time at the Capitol that that she didn't agree with the Democrats on important issues. She specifically cited a bill that would have eliminated the death penalty, the party's position on social welfare programs, and legislation that sought to raid the private assets of a major insurer, as reasons for her change of political heart. “I respect the Democrat senators and their work, but sometimes the ideology doesn’t meet the reality.”

One day when she was taking notes in a committee hearing, Gadberry recalls hearing a woman testify that “being poor is a full time job,” as she was trying to defend her entitlement program from getting cut. “I was horrified,” said Gadberry. “There is no reason to stand a on street corner begging unless you are insane.”

Gadberry knows first hand about hard times and government programs. While she graduated from the University of Colorado Denver this month with a degree in political science and will start law school at the University of Denver in August, there were tough years as well. A Colorado native who rebelled against her strict Mormon family, Gadberry dropped out of high school, spending her teenage years in foster care and a group home. At 18, she became a single mom and went on to earn her GED. Six years ago, she married Wayne Gadberry, and together they run a small computer software development company.

“I knew at 12 that I didn’t want to take a traditional path,” she said.

Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, recalls seeing Gadberry around the Capitol and says she loved to discuss policy and was always interested in talking to anyone from either side of the aisle. “Jean’s story is the kind that needs to be told,” he said. “If you are willing to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and make something of yourself like she did, then you don't need the government to help you.”

Even though Gadberry spent time in the foster care system, she credits her success to her own hard work. During her time in foster care, Gadberry says she saw flaws in the system. She recalled people who would only take in foster children just to receive extra money from the state. Gadberry believes while many government programs are well intentioned, the state could definitely be doing a better job. “You see the government trying to help children, but a lot of these children don’t end up being successful,” she said, acknowledging her case is exceptional.

Harvey said Gadberry was particularly passionate during contentious budget debates. The Joint Budget Committee had initially proposed a budget that relied on seizing $500 million from Pinnacol Assurance, a quasi-governmental agency that is the state’s largest provider of workers' compensation insurance. The Gadberrys have a workers compensation insurance policy through Pinnacol Assurance.

“She would explain to me how frustrated she and her husband were, as business owners in Colorado, that the Democrat Party was going after their insurance company and their premiums,” said Harvey. “I would always see her during the Pinnacol debate and ask if she was proud of her party. I kept telling her every time I’d see her on the floor that I'd get a voter registration application for her.”

He may not have to wait much longer. Gadberry said now that school and her internship are over, changing her party affiliation from Democrat to Republican is one of her top priorities. Even though she is changing her party registration, Gadberry said she still has great admiration for many Democrats, including Sen. Morgan Carroll of Aurora, and former Senate President Peter Groff of Denver.

Gadberry said she can’t wait to work with Republicans in the future and one day hopes to run for office. By then, she also hopes Republicans will stop getting bogged down by the religious right, which she said gives it a bad reputation and is what initially deterred her from wanting to be a Republican.

As for her favorite Republican Senators, in addition to Harvey, the list includes Sens. Bill Cadman of Colorado Springs, and Shawn Mitchell of Broomfield.