By Lynn Bartels
The Denver Post
Former state
Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald is the new president of America
Votes, a national progressive group that she says is "perfect" for the
skill set she spent 25 years building.
She started Oct. 15 and already has traveled to various states.
America Votes, which was founded in 2003, is a coalition of liberal
grassroots, get-out-the-vote groups.
"Truly, the nicest part about this is with the kind of expertise
I've gained, you say, 'Well I've learned a lot. What can I do with it?'
" Fitz-Gerald said. "This job is the perfect answer.
"And 2010 is a really important year. It has a lot to do with
redistricting, and, as you know, I have some experience with that," she
said, with a laugh.
The Jefferson County Democrat was the Senate minority leader in 2003
when Republicans — who then held both U.S. Senate seats and five of
seven congressional offices — pushed through a redistricting bill in
the waning days of the session.
Fitz-Gerald fought what came to be called the "midnight gerrymander," which later was declared unconstitutional.
She got her start in politics in 1990 when she was elected clerk and
recorder in Jefferson County. She won her first state legislative race
in 2000, and in 2005, she became the first female president of the
Senate. She also was elected chairwoman of the Democratic Legislative
Campaign Committee, which helps Democrats nationwide get elected to
state legislatures.
She resigned her Senate post in
2007 to run for Congress in the 2nd District but lost the primary to
wealthy Internet entrepreneur Jared Polis.
Fitz-Gerald and her husband, John, are selling their Jefferson
County home and are looking for a place to live in the D.C. area. She
said she needs to be in Washington, and the couple can't afford two
households.
She plans to visit Colorado as much as possible. One of her two sons still lives here, and America Votes has a Colorado chapter.
"It's not like I'm severing all ties," she said. "I've lived in
Colorado for 32 years, and I have left bits and pieces all over that
state."
her Senate post in
2007 to run for Congress in the 2nd District but lost the primary to
wealthy Internet entrepreneur Jared Polis.
