KNUS' Andrews falsely claimed that state Sen. Fitz-Gerald "sued for her right to serve a little longer" in legislature

Summary: During a January 20 discussion about Republican state Rep. Douglas Bruce taking his oath of office five days into the legislative session to extend his possible tenure, KNUS 710 AM's John Andrews asserted that the "precedent happened to have been set by none other than" former Colorado Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald (D), and claimed that she "went to court and sued for her right to serve a little longer." In fact, Fitz-Gerald began her 2001 Senate term on the first day of the session, unlike Bruce; a Republican group reportedly sued to block her 2006 re-election bid.

Discussing state Rep. Douglas Bruce's (R) decision to take the oath of office five days after the start of the legislative session in order to prolong his potential tenure under Colorado's term limits law, John Andrews on his January 20 Backbone Radio broadcast asserted, "That precedent happened to have been set by none other than" former Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald. He further claimed that "the Jefferson County Democrat ... went to court and sued for her right to serve a little longer." In fact, unlike Bruce, Fitz-Gerald started her initial 2001 term as a Colorado senator on the first day of the session, as Colorado Media Matters has noted. Moreover, contrary to Andrews' claim that Fitz-Gerald "went to court and sued," The Denver Post reported on November 22, 2005 (accessed through the Nexis database), that a Republican group called the Senate Majority Fund filed suit to block Fitz-Gerald from running for re-election in 2006.

As the Post reported on December 20, "Bruce, who was selected by El Paso County Republicans this month to fill a vacant House seat, is refusing to officially take office until Jan. 14 -- not on Jan. 9 when the legislature convenes. For missing the first few days of the session, the Republican anti-tax crusader will serve less than half a term. That means Bruce can seek re-election for an additional two years."

Speaking with state Rep. Kent Lambert (R-Colorado Springs) during the KNUS 710 AM broadcast, Andrews called Bruce "a personal friend and longtime political ally of mine" before explaining how Bruce "raise[d] eyebrows by wanting to be sworn in late. OK, sort of playing a sharp angle, but fair enough." Andrews then stated, "That precedent happened to have been set by none other than former state senator, state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, the Jefferson County Democrat who went to court and sued for her right to serve a little longer, insisting she hadn't served quite half of an unexpired term before being elected to her own term."

However, as the Post noted in its November 2005 article, Fitz-Gerald began her initial term on January 10, 2001, the day the Colorado General Assembly convened that year. The article further noted a Republican group's attempt to block Fitz-Gerald from running for re-election in 2006 by filing a lawsuit in Denver District Court:

A Republican political organization has asked a Denver judge to bar Democratic Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald from running for another term next year.

The Senate Majority Fund, which works to elect Republican candidates to the state Senate, filed a lawsuit in Denver District Court on Friday asking the court to clarify what has become a muddy legal issue with important political implications.

The lawsuit contends that Fitz-Gerald should be term limited in 2006 because she has served two full terms. Fitz-Gerald has said that her first two years in office do not constitute a full term.

If Fitz-Gerald is prevented from running in 2006, it would likely make her seat a Republican target and could swing control of the Senate back to the GOP. Democrats now hold a one-vote majority.

Fitz-Gerald, a powerful Democrat who helped her party recapture control of the legislature last year, was elected to the Senate in 2000 after Sen. Tony Grampsas died. She served less than two calendar years during that term -- from Jan. 10, 2001, until the beginning of 2003 -- but was present for two January-through-May legislative sessions. She was re-elected in 2002 for a full four-year term.

And while the December 20 Post article reported that "[t]he half-term precedent was set by former Democratic Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald" and that "now Bruce is using it to his advantage," the article noted that "Republicans sued over it then":

Republicans tried to block Fitz-Gerald from seeking re-election in 2006. She took office in 2000* to fill the unfinished four-year term of Sen. Tony Grampsas, who had died, and was re-elected in 2002.

The constitution limits state senators to two four-year terms, and the Republican lawsuit focused on whether Fitz-Gerald had served more than half of Grampsas' unfinished term. In 1990, when Colorado voters approved term limits, they said half a term counts as a full term.

A Denver district judge ruled in Fitz-Gerald's favor in 2006, and she was re-elected.

From the January 20 broadcast of KNUS 710 AM's Backbone Radio:

ANDREWS: Let's come now to the issue which, for better or worse, dominated media coverage of this first full week of the 2008 Colorado General Assembly. Tax crusader -- someone that's been a personal friend and longtime political ally of mine, let me make that clear -- Douglas Bruce of Colorado Springs, having won a vacancy appointment to fill a House of Representatives seat from Colorado Springs -- I guess neighboring. Is it adjacent to your district, Kent Lambert?

LAMBERT: It's not -- it doesn't overlap with my district. It's east of -- yes, that's correct.

ANDREWS: But it's right there in El Paso County. Figuratively a neighbor of yours. Douglas Bruce first raised eyebrows by insisting he be sworn in late in order to maximize his eligibility under Colorado's term-limit law, so that he could serve just a little less than half of the [former Rep.] Bill Cadman elected term that he's filling out.

KRISTA KAFER [co-host]: Did you warn Representative Lambert about the puns that might happen again?

ANDREWS: Well, you need to kick the habit as far as those puns, Krista, all right?

[Kafer laughs]

ANDREWS: Or I'm kickin' you out. How 'bout that?

KAFER: That was OK, but I think that we already used "kickin'."

ANDREWS: All right.

KAFER: All right. Go on, go on, please.

ANDREWS: I'm trying to set the stage. This is complicated here.

LAMBERT: I'm used to Krista's puns. I can take it.

[Kafer and Lambert laugh]

ANDREWS: First Douglas Bruce raises eyebrows by wanting to be sworn in late. OK, sort of playing a sharp angle, but fair enough. That precedent happened to have been set by none other than former state senator, state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald, the Jefferson County Democrat who went to court and sued for her right to serve a little longer, insisting she hadn't served quite half of an unexpired term before being elected to her own term.

KAFER: So Bruce thought he'd be a shoo-in?

ANDREWS: Well, he did. And, fair enough. Not necessarily the ideal PR. But Douglas Bruce has never seemed to care very much about the ideal PR.

*The December 20 Post article reported inaccurately that Fitz-Gerald "took office in 2000 to fill the unfinished four-year term of Sen. Tony Grampsas." A letter from then-Secretary of State Donetta Davidson to Fitz-Gerald dated January 28, 2005, confirmed the correct timeline:

My understanding of the relevant facts is as follows: Senator Tony Grampsas was elected to the Colorado State Senate in November 1998 and began a four-year term on January 6, 1999. However, he passed away on February 8, 1999. The vacancy was filled temporarily by appointment, and then you were elected in November 2000 to fill the remainder of his term. You took office on January 10, 2001, and served the remainder of Senator Grampsas' four-year term, which ended on January 8, 2003.

—C.H. & J.F.B.