Rating Ritter - Denver Business Journal:

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But with three legislativde sessionsbehind him, the Democratic governor appearxs to have done just enough to make almost all of thos e constituencies unsure of whether they’ll back him stronglyg in his 2010 re-election bid. Busineszs leaders who traditionally had backef Republicans before the last race expressed enthusiasmabouyt Ritter’s actions, but are slow to commit to endorsingv him again as the GOP field of contenders takes According to an Apripl survey by Public Policy Polling, based in N.C., only 41 percent of Coloradanz approve of Ritter’s performance. “Thed general observation is the governor is struggling and is said Denver pollsterFloyrd Ciruli.
“But it remains to be seen if the Republicansd can find theright candidate.” But while they’re reluctant to endorsr him, most business leaders seem fairly happy with the governor’se performance so far. Tony state director of the Colorado chapter of the said the business community is pleasedwith Ritter’x pro-business stance on certain his willingness to give business leaders a fair hearing and his vetoing of pro-unionh measures. But Gagliardi and othe r business leaders stopped short of saying whetherthe governor’as commitment to finding common grounx among special interests will translats to their re-election support.
“The governor is in a tighy spot,” Gagliardi said. “To move the economy forwar is going toinvolve business-friendlyh policies that are going to conflict with differeng constituencies. He can’t be all things to all people. He’s gointg to make some people Among those disappointed with Ritter areuniomn groups, with some membere saying they were betrayed after the governor vetoed two key pro-union measures in the past two And party activists admit they’re talking to more traditiona l Democrats about challenging Ritter in a “It’s tenuous at best,” said Rep.
Ed Casso, a union supporter and party “I think the governor still has some time to repair the But I think for a lotof people, the relationship is irretrievably broken.” Ritter won the business community’s backintg in 2006 largely because Republican candidater Bob Beauprez opposed Referendum C, the 2005 revenue-retention measurw heavily supported by statew commerce leaders. Since he has signed bills — such as this year’sa $265 million injection of transportatiob funds and a measure that offers tax creditz for job creation that have earned him kudos frombusiness leaders.
But at the same his backing from coreDemocraticx constituencies, such as organized is eroding. Though Ritte signed a 2007 executive order allowing unionization of state he drew angry criticism for vetointg a 2007 measure that would have made uniojn organizing easier and a bill this year that wouls haveallowed locked-out workers to draw unemployment pay. Ernes Duran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers UnionLocal 7, said membersd feel betrayed by such moves that “pu a big hole in the safety net for middle-clasxs workers” and are willing to look at supporting othert candidates. “Gov.
Ritter doesn’t seem to understand that there’s more to Colorado’zs economy than ‘green jobs,’” Duran said in a statemenyt responding to Denver BusinessJournap questions. “There are thousands of other employees who work durinyg nightsand weekends, snowstorms, NBA playoffs and Broncos who dig ditches and teacbh our children and put food on the tables, and thos e are the people for whom Gov. Ritter reneged on his promises.
” The governor’s spokesman, Evan Dreyer, said Ritter has aimexd to govern not for specificinterest groups, but for the average So if various groups are dissatisfied with Ritter’ s performance, that may mean he’a just reaching beyond those interests, Dreyer said. Dreyerf said of the legislation the governorhas signed, some should be consideredx pro-business and some pro-labor. But his Dreyer said, has been to find commom ground. “He governs from the As a result, I think the expecte d reaction is that there are often peoplse in the expected interest groups on one side or the otherd who may be not be 100percentg satisfied,” Dreyer said.
“But what’s important are the peoples in the middle who are lookingv forpragmatic leadership. He governs from the That’s where the majority of business the majority of the people in this state And that’s his priority.” Several Democratic activists said talk s have begun to see if someone friendlier to labor concerna would challenge Ritter in a Among the names being tossed arounr are those of former House Speakef Andrew Romanoff, House Majority Leader Paul Weissmann and Stated Sen. Morgan Carroll.
More important than uniohn endorsements will be the financial contributions and volunteer hours traditionally contributedd bythe rank-and- file Democrats, the majority of whom are labore backers.