Station:   KVOR, 740 AM

Show:      Jimmy Lakey Show

Guests:    Coffman, Cynthia

Link:        http://www.kvor.com/page.php?page_id=261

Date:       April 13, 2014

Topics:     Attorney General John Suthers, Traditional Marriage, Same Sex Marriage, Colorado Constitution, Don Quick, Adams County, Broomfield County, term limits, Ken Salazar, Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), CO State Representative Mark Waller, Primary, General Election, Assembly, Endorsement, Michael Bloomberg, Gun Laws, Chief Deputy,  Technology, Office Manager, Goats, Mules, Property Values, National Science Foundation Poll, Flat Earth Society,

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GUEST HOST JIMMY BENSBERG:  Great! Well, you came out of the [GOP] state assembly pretty well yesterday.  You almost kept your opponent off the ballot.

COLORADO DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL & CANDIDATE FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL CYNTHIA COFFMAN:  It was a great day, yesterday.

GUEST HOST “THE” ED JONES:  Yes.  Okay.

BENSBERG:  Now, I’m reading from his [Coffman’s primary opponent, Representative Mark Waller]  literature, here.  It says that you are a great defender of former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and his unconstitutional gun laws.  Is that true, Cynthia?

COFFMAN:  No, Jim, that’s not true.  You know, Michael Bloomberg, I know, was very interested last year in the legislature when we were debating the gun laws and he threw some of his money our way. But there is no involvement at the Attorney General’s office with, against, for Michael Bloomberg.  So, that’s some spicy rhetoric that my opponent was throwing out there, but it really is not true.

BENSBERG:  Well, speaking of the Attorney General, I noted with great interest that our current Attorney General, term limited John Suthers endorsed you at the podium yesterday.

COFFMAN:  He did.  And I’ve had the privilege of working with Mr. Suthers for the last nine years as his chief Deputy. So, that, to me, was the biggest honor of the day.

JONES:  Yeah, yeah, you know, he’s a favorite of mines [sic] too, Cynthia.  This is Ed Jones.

COFFMAN:  Thank you.

JONES:  And when — As District Attorney he did a great job here. And he’s going to be missed.  But I’m pretty sure you’ll have nice sized shoes to fill. But hopefully you’ll do a great job if you actually win this thing.

COFFMAN:  Well, thank you.  I’ll do my best to fill those shoes.

JONES:  Okay.

BENSBERG:  Cynthia, tell us about your ultimate opponent in November – this Don Quick—I believe he’s from Weld County?

COFFMAN:  Don is actually from Adams County, Jimmy.  He was elected District Attorney in the 17^th judicial district for a couple of terms.  And interestingly, Don tried to get his term limits lifted so that he could run for another 4-year term as District Attorney. And the voters of Adams and Broomfield County resoundingly defeated that proposition —they did not want him back.  So, I think that gives me and gives you all an idea of how folks who had him as their DA might feel about him as an Attorney General.

BENSBERG: Well, that is interesting, because unlike El Paso County, Adams is not known as a bastion of conservatism – and neither of course is Broomfield—a fair amount of liberal folks vote and populate there.  But, as I recall he said some fairly controversial things, here, no too long ago.  Can you enlighten our listeners?

COFFMAN:  I absolutely can. Taking a page from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s playbook, Don Quick held a press conference on the steps of state courts building and called on John Suthers to drop his defense of the definition of marriage –

BENSBERG:  Ugh!

COFFMAN:  –that’s in the Constitution of Colorado.  You know the voters, um, a number of years back, amended the Constitution and said we want marriage to be the traditional definition of being between a man and a woman.  That’s what the voters approved, and Don Quick says he doesn’t agree with that.  He doesn’t believe that that is constitutional, even though the Supreme Court of the United States hasn’t said that.  And so presumptively, he thinks that the Attorney General should not defend that provision of the Constitution.  And that—you know, that kind of picking and choosing as an Attorney General—what parts of the Constitution you defend, I can’t imagine a better thing to criticize my opponent about –than starting there.  Because the people of El Paso County and Republicans across the state know that if you’re the Attorney General, you take the oath to uphold the entire Constitution.

BENSBERG:  Well, and the state legislature is charged with the responsibility of passing laws, and sometimes the voters take a notion to put something on the ballot.  But once it ends up in the Colorado Constitution, as Attorney General, you don’t have the choice whether or not to enforce those laws and constitutional provisions that are passed by the people.

COFFMAN:  Absolutely right.

[End transcript portion:  the following represents notes and transcribed portions from the continuation of this interview.  All portions, except where identified as transcribed sections, are paraphrased from the questions and responses between the host and the guest.]

BENSBERG:  How large of an office is the AG office?

COFFMAN:

We’re the biggest law office in the state

275 attorneys doing the work of the people of the state

About 150 administrative positions and support staff

Technology

And budgeting

Backbone and infrastructure

We’re a very big law firm

BENSBERG:  Not only do you have to be a competent attorney, but you have to manage all those folks

COFFMAN:

That’s what I’ve been doing as Deputy

BENSBERG:  National Science Foundation Poll of adult Americans:  25% of people think the sun revolves around the Earth, I have to ask, do you believe that, and are you member of the Flat Earth Society

COFFMAN:

[Laughter all around]

No, I can’t say that I am

I was more intrigued by your conversation about cloven hooved animals

Having come from farming community

I was afraid you were anti-goat

But I was reassured by your last comments

BENSBERG:  We’re all about goats and horses and mules… we think goats have their place, but it’s not in an urban environment where they can cause trouble for neighbors and property values

COFFMAN:

I’m glad that’s not an issue for the state AG

[laughter]

BENSBERG:  Anything else you’d like to tell our listeners’?

COFFMAN:

Appreciate being able to come on your program

Hope to be able to do it again

Yesterday at assembly was quite a high

First time running for office,

70% of delegates choosing me to be next AG is an honor

And a privilege

I’m looking forward to continuing the campaign through November

I hope to have many opportunities to convince them that I’m the right person to back

BENSBERG:  You’ve already spent time in El Paso County , with coffees and meet and greets… are you coming back any time soon?

COFFMAN:

I am.

We were waiting until after assembly

I told my folks to start scheduling things now

If anyone has a group you’d like me to come visit with:

CynthiaCoffmanforAG.com

JONES:  We’ll probably see you at Picnic in the Park, also

COFFMAN:

You will, in fact!  I have that on the calendar already.

BENSBERG:  June 14^th at America the Beautiful Park—great forum for candidates, 10 days before primary, and perhaps you’ll go on to general election…. Anything else to distinguish you from primary opponent or your general election opponent in November?

COFFMAN:

Primary

Experience

Attorney for 23 years

Last 9 in AG office

This is not a place for on the job training

Need to hit the ground running on first day

I’m that person

Don Quick

He worked in AG office under Salazar

Same job as I have now

I think I match up really well as the R candidate against him

A lot has changed in the last nine years and I’m looking forward to teaching Mr. Quick about that