Michael Bennet '87: Colorado's next Senator

Many sources close to Governor Bill Ritter have confirmed that Denver School Superintendent Michael Bennet '87 is expected to be selected as the next Senator from Colorado. He was considered a longshot for the job by many; John Hickenlooper '74, Ed Perlmutter, and Mike Miles were some of the other frontrunners.

In fact, Bennet served as Hickenlooper's chief of staff while he was mayor of Denver, before he became Superintendent of Schools. Michael Bennet had formerly been considered a possibility for Obama's Secretary of Education, but that choice went to Arne Duncan. Bennet was at least back to visit Wesleyan in 2006, where he gave a Weseminar called "The Education Race."

Michael Bennet is also the son of our university's last President, Doug Bennet.

Read up about Michael Bennet and his selection for the position of Senator:
Denver Post
Wikipedia
NYTimes Caucus
A fun story from 2003 about the relationship between Bennet and Hickenlooper
FiveThirtyEight

Congrats, Michael Bennet! We're proud of you.

Giant Joint in the Senate?

Former WSA president Matt Ball '08 writes in to tell us that two names with Wesleyan connections are being mentioned as possible replacements for Colorado junior senator Ken Salazar, who has been named Secretary of the Interior.

Denver mayor John Hickenlooper '74 is one, with the other being Michael Bennet '87, the son of former Wesleyan prez Doug Bennet (though unlike his father, Michael is not a Wesleyan alum). They're probably both longshots, but hey, who says we can't dream?

[EDIT] Multiple commenters have noted that Michael actually is an alum (Wes '87). Sorry for the confusion. Also, for a detailed breakdown of the candidates for the seat, check out FiveThirtyEight.

[/edit by Ben, 11:12 AM]