• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Colorado First To Have Blacks Lead Both Chambers

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +    Comments
Jan 6, 2009 9:37 pm US/Mountain

Colorado First To Have Blacks Lead Both Chambers

Reporting
Terry Jessup
DENVER (CBS4) ― The Colorado state legislature will make history when it reconvenes Wednesday. Colorado is set to become the first state legislature in the country to have two black men in the top two leadership positions at the same time.

One is the son of a former prominent politician and the other a former police officer and the only child of a single mother who was a sharecropper's daughter.

In a state where Ku Klux Klan members once held key positions in the legislature, Denver state Rep. Terrance Carroll will be taking over as the new speaker of the House.

"That's probably the most amazing thing about the story. That some 80-odd years ago, the speaker of the House stood where I'm about to stand tomorrow and take the gavel, was a Klansman," Carroll said.

In the state Senate, President Peter Groff will preside over his second session in a state that is only 4 percent black.

"I think it says more about the state than it does about the speaker and me -- that we would have 98 people say that these are the best qualified people to serve in that role," Groff said.

A former police officer, Carroll credits his mother for starting him down a successful path.

"She was so involved back in our community in (Washington) D.C. and always ingrained in me the need to be involved in community service; to be involved in public service," Carroll said.

Groff was influenced by his father, former lawmaker Regis Groff.

"Who served in the same chamber, same district that I have," Groff said. "I thought about serving, but certainly not as president."

Both men feel the pressure.

"It feels like the weight of the state is on your shoulders," Carroll said.

Especially with the state facing a $600 million budget deficit.

Groff has served a couple years longer, and in both chambers. He says Carroll has the tougher job.

"Absolutely this chamber is a little more difficult to run, I think, than the one down the hall," Groff said sitting while sitting in the House chamber.

It's a challenge Carroll never dreamed of growing up in the ghetto in Washington, D.C.

"I didn't even know where Colorado was growing up," he laughed. "I mean, I thought it was the place where Mork and Mindy were from."

Both men say it will be a successful session if this legislature can help maintain and create jobs in this ongoing recession. They are also both strong proponents of protecting education funding during the budget crunch.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Curious & Controversial News

Add Comment

here. here. Need a log in? Register here
  •  * Will not be displayed with comment
  •  * e.g. (http://www.mywebsite.com)
  •  
  • Click here to refresh with new letters

Show Comments (0)

Close Window Login


Close Window Flag Comment


loading...
You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

Colorado & Denver News

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.