August William Ritter Jr. (born September 6, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, he served as the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

for Denver before his election to the governorship in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

. Ritter was the first Colorado-born person to be elected as Governor of Colorado since 1975, as well as being the first Democratic officeholder in 50 years to serve with a Democratic majority in the Colorado General Assembly. Ritter did not run for a second term in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. Ritter announced that he would not run for a second term due to family reasons. He supported fellow Democrat John Hickenlooper, who was elected to the governorship.

Early life

Ritter was raised on a farm in Aurora, Colorado, with 11 brothers and sisters; he was sixth-oldest. His parents were Ethel and August William Ritter. He attended Gateway High School while he lived in Aurora. He also attended

St. Anthony Catholic High School St. Anthony Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school located in the Monte Vista Historic District in Midtown San Antonio, Texas, United States.San Antonio, Texas, from 1970 to 1972. At 14 years old, he went to work full-time in the construction industry, and joined a local labor union. He continued to work in the construction field prior to college. Ritter enrolled in

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: ...

and completed a bachelor's degree, and then pursued a degree at the University of Colorado School of Law in Boulder. By 1981, he had earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

. That year he was hired as a Deputy District Attorney in the Denver District Attorney's Office.

Career in law

In 1990, Ritter took a position in the United States Attorney's office. He returned to the Deputy District Attorney's office two years later. In 1993, Ritter was appointed as Denver's District Attorney. As DA, he created one of the nation's first

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

courts, as well as taking on white collar crime in

metropolitan Denver Denver, Colorado, Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jeffers ...

. He worked extensively on the prosecution of sexual abuse and

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner ...

, as well as criminals targeting senior citizens. Ritter advised United States Attorney General John Ashcroft on affairs after the September 11 attacks.

Charity work

Ritter served on the

Denver Foundation Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver re ...

's Human Services Committee, the Mile High United Way Board, and the Denver Public Schools' Commission on Secondary School Reform. In 1987, Ritter and his wife Jeannie moved to Zambia as

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

for the Catholic Church. They opened a food distribution and education center. Upon their return to the Denver area in 1989, Governor Roy Romer appointed Ritter to the DA's office, citing his missionary work as an "important factor" in the decision. During the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Ritter's campaign and the press often noted his work in Zambia.

Governorship

Bill Ritter visiting Balad Air Base, Iraq, Dec

Murder 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 A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

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

, Ritter supports a "semi-

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

" 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 Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

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 The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

for family planning and would reverse the veto of a bill that would have allowed

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...

s 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 bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

s 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

Since February 2011, Ritter has served as the director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University.Colorado State University (2011)
Gov. Bill Ritter to Head New Colorado State University Policy Center for New Energy Economy
. Retrieved October 3, 2011.

Family

Bill and

Jeannie Ritter Jeannie Rita Ritter (born 14 June 1958) is an American educator and activist who served as the First Lady of Colorado from 2007 until 2011. She is the wife of former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter. Ritter has helped to raise awareness regarding ...

married in 1983. They have four children: August III, Abe, Sam, and Tally. Jeannie is a substitute teacher in the Denver Public Schools District. The majority of Ritter's extended family lives in Colorado.

Electoral history

References

External links

*
Bill Ritter for Governor
''official campaign site''
Democratic Party of ColoradoProfile: Bill Ritter
'' The Denver Post'', July 30, 2006
Gov. Ritter on Colorado's IT consolidation
'' Government Technology Magazine'', April, 2008
Video of Bill Ritter's Focus the Nation address at the University of Colorado
May 2008 , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritter, Bill 1956 births 2006 Colorado gubernatorial election American humanitarians American Roman Catholic missionaries Catholics from Colorado Colorado State University alumni Democratic Party governors of Colorado District attorneys in Colorado Living people Politicians from Denver Roman Catholic missionaries in Zambia United States Department of Justice lawyers University of Colorado Boulder alumni