in
Denver, Colorado. from
Colorado in
Iraq, December 2007
Assassination attempt On July 16, 2007, 33-year-old Aaron Snyder stormed the Capitol while holding a pistol and threatening to kill Governor Ritter. Snyder was shot and killed outside Ritter's offices by State Trooper Jay Hemphill.
Popularity At the start of his term, Ritter was relatively popular with rural Coloradans, who in the past have tended to vote for Republican candidates (particularly
Front Range voters). Ritter's rural roots and construction work background may have appealed to them. His popularity also extended to the Democratic strongholds in Colorado: the voters of the
continental divide ski resorts such as
Aspen and
Vail, as well as the
Denver-Aurora metropolitan area. An August 2007 poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports showed Ritter's approval rating at 60%, while 36% were disapproving and 4% remained undecided. By July 2008, however, Ritter's approvals had begun a sharp decline, with a Rasmussen poll showing his approvals at 45%. His numbers failed to improve—an April 2009 poll by Public Policy Polling showed the governor's approvals had declined to 41%, with 49% disapproving of his performance. More significantly, the same poll also showed Ritter trailing his most likely 2010 opponent, former U.S. Representative
Scott McInnis, by 7 points. Though Ritter cited family reasons in his January 2010 announcement that he had decided not to run for re-election, he was dogged by rumors that his poor polling numbers led Democratic power brokers to force him out of the race.
Political positions As a member of the
Democratic Party, Ritter supports a "semi-
progressive" agenda, emphasizing
universal health care, environmental protection, housing subsidy and welfare increases, and other stances aligned with the
left-wing of the Democratic Party. During his first campaign, more progressive state Democratic leaders encouraged other candidates, including Denver Mayor
John Hickenlooper, to pursue the Governorship, because of concerns over Ritter's
anti-abortion stance. Others believed that Ritter would be more successful in the purple state than
Republican opponents. Hickenlooper did not pursue the office in 2006 and he eventually supported Ritter. Ritter opposes
same-sex marriage in another culturally conservative position. Ritter pledged that, as governor, he would not act to overturn
abortion laws and he would veto any bill prohibiting abortion that did not provide for an exception for rape, incest, or fetal anomalies. Ritter further stated that he would restore state funding to
Planned Parenthood for family planning and would reverse the veto of a bill that would have allowed
pharmacists to dispense the emergency
contraception known as the
morning-after pill. Ritter also staked out moderate positions on business and labor issues, vetoing legislation in 2007 that would have made it easier for workers to form unions, and, mid-term, naming moderate Republican
Don Marostica his director of economic development.
Plea bargains Controversy arose during the campaign over Ritter's use of
plea bargains while serving as DA. Ritter had plea bargained 97% of cases that were brought to his office (this is close to the national average; prosecutors use plea bargains to settle lower level cases in order to best use their resources). However, controversy surfaced regarding plea bargains Ritter had made as DA that prevented the deportation of both legal and illegal immigrants who had been charged with drug, assault, and other crimes. Both illegal immigration and drug use were hot topics in the race for governor, raising further controversy. Ritter has defended his office's use of plea bargains, stating that "Our priority was to try the most serious cases." ==Post-gubernatorial career==