Face The State Staff Report
Former Fort Collins Mayor Ray Martinez, a Republican, predicts that recent public backlash against unionization with play well for area Republicans this November.
In June, Fort Collins voters struck down a collective bargaining proposal by a margin of nearly three-to-one. It was the third time in four years that unions unsuccessfully brought the issue of collective bargaining and binding arbitration to voters. “Voters realize that is deceitful, and they are sick of it,” Martinez said.
In 2004, it was union money that propelled Sen. Bob Bacon, D-Fort Collins, into office over Martinez, by a margin of more than 10,000 votes of the 69,667 cast. As a former teacher, Bacon and his campaign relied heavily on the support provided by the local teacher’s union. These union ties got him into hot water when the Poudre Education Association and the Colorado Education Association were accused of illegally coordinating with Bacon’s campaign by walking door-to-door and distributing his campaign literature. In a politically contentious decision, the Colorado Supreme Court later overturned the unanimous ruling of the Colorado Court of Appeals that held the two unions had violated state law prohibiting direct union contributions and expenditures to candidate campaigns.
"Basically the Supreme Court has condoned illegal coordination with candidates," said Scott Gessler, a Denver attorney who represented the taxpayers who brought the suit. "The door is open to another lawsuit if we are able to develop different evidence, so I think the unions still have to be very careful."
As of the last reporting cycle, Bacon had $53,779.49 in the bank, while Republican candidate Matt Fries trailed with $1,090.28. But Fries is not letting Bacon’s union backers deter him from a full fledged campaign effort. “No matter how much money the unions throw at this race, they cannot stop me from going door-to-door,” he said.
After “wearing out multiple pairs of shoes on a weekly basis” from going door-to-door in his district, Fries says the voters he’s talked with are focused on fiscal issues like job security, investments, home values, and the general state of the economy. “Republicans can win on these issues,” Fries said.
With a registration breakdown of 31 percent Republican, 29 percent Democrat and 38 percent unaffiliated, neither candidate can rely on a party registration advantage to propel him to victory at the ballot box.
Fries, who is now retired, has lived in Fort Collins his whole life and has been a small business owner there since 1995. He helped operate his family's printing business for 15 years before starting Professional Document management Inc., which he sold 2007. Currently, Fries manages his family's real estate investments, but he considers campaigning his full time job. Fries and his wife, Suzanne, have three children.
Bacon, originally from Illinois, moved to Colorado in 1959. He was elected to serve in the state House in 1997 and spent three terms there before moving on to the Senate. Bacon says his campaign is focusing heavily on the importance of education and “the hope Colorado State University can generate the intellectual capitol that can bring good jobs.”
“I think the people in Fort Collins, regardless of whether they are a Republican, Democrat or unaffiliated are concerned about education and lifelong education,” said Bacon, a former teacher. Last session, he co-sponsored House Bill 1001, which provided additional funding for bioscience research programs. Bacon also grabbed headlines when he sponsored a bill that would ban masturbation in public view.
With CSU serving as the city's largest employer, issues surrounding higher education have played a significant role in recent elections. Concerns about a sluggish economy, however, defines much of Fries' message. He maintains the region's commercial interests and employers must not be overlooked. Fort Collins is also home to manufacturing and business interests such as Hewlett Packard, Anheuser-Busch, Eastman Kodak and Intel.
Other special interests at play in Fort Collins are billionaire liberal Pat Stryker and her strategy man, former CSU President Al Yates. In February, the Rocky Mountain News reported the contents of an internal memo detailing a $12 million proposal featuring Yates, Styker, and other Democrat heavy hitters to influence national races this year, including the region's 4th Congressional District. Martinez said this incident left a bad taste in voters' mouths because the memo indicated that “those guys don’t care how they get you.”
Four years after his own bid for state Senate fell short, Martinez offered the following advice to Fries: “Matt needs to focus on the lack of accomplishments Democrats have produced at the state and local level, while at the same time offer solutions."