Bernie Buescher (born July 11, 1949) is an American politician who served as

secretary of state of Colorado The secretary of state of Colorado is the secretary of state of the state of Colorado in the United States. The office is one of five elected constitutional offices in the state. The current secretary of state is Democrat Jena Griswold. Structure ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he was appointed to the office in 2009 by

Governor of Colorado The governor of Colorado is the head of government of the U.S. state of Colorado. The governor is the head of the executive branch of Colorado's state government and is charged with enforcing state laws. The governor has the power to either app ...

Bill Ritter 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, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his ele ...

to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Republican

Mike Coffman Michael Harold Coffman (born March 19, 1955) is an American politician, businessman, and veteran of the United States Army, U.S. Army and United States Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps serving as Mayor of Aurora, Colorado since 2019. A Republican ...

Early life

Buescher was born in

Grand Junction, Colorado Grand Junction is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Mesa County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 65,560 at the 2020 United States Census, making Grand Junction the 17th mos ...

. He attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

, graduating with an accounting degree. He received his J.D from the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

in 1974.

Career

After law school, Buescher returned to Grand Junction and joined the law firm of Williams, Turner and Holmes, where he practiced corporate law until 1987; that year he became president and CEO of West Star Aviation. In 1996, Governor

Roy Romer Roy Rudolf Romer (born October 31, 1928) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Colorado, 39th Governor of Colorado from 1987 to 1999, and subsequently as the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, su ...

asked Buescher to serve as interim manager for the Colorado State Fair. Romer then appointed Buescher as executive director of the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing in 1997. Buescher resigned in 1998 to unsuccessfully run for lieutenant governor with Gail Schoettler as governor.

Politics

In 2004 Buescher was elected to the

Colorado General Assembly The Colorado General Assembly is the state legislature of the State of Colorado. It is a bicameral legislature that was created by the 1876 state constitution. Its statutes are codified in the ''Colorado Revised Statutes'' (C.R.S.). The ses ...

, where he served two terms. In the legislature, Buescher was appointed to the Joint Budget Committee by Speaker

Andrew Romanoff Harlan Andrew Romanoff (born August 24, 1966) is an American politician, attorney, and academic. A Democrat, he was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009, serving as Speaker from 2005 to 2009. He was a candidate for ...

; he served as chair of the Joint Budget Committee in 2006 and 2008, and also chaired the House Appropriations Committee in 2007 and 2008. In 2009, Buescher was appointed by Governor

to serve as Colorado Secretary of State. Buescher was unsuccessful in his election bid in 2010, losing to

Scott Gessler Scott Gessler is an American politician and the former Secretary of State of Colorado, having served from 2011 to 2015. He is a former business owner and elections attorney. Gessler is a member of the Republican Party. Gessler is also a veteran ...

. Shortly after the election, Buescher was asked by

John Suthers John William Suthers (born October 18, 1951) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Mayor of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He previously served as the Attorney General of Colorado, U.S. Attorney for Colorado, Executive Director of th ...

, the Republican attorney general, to serve as deputy attorney general. Buescher served in this position until September 2014. In December 2015, Buescher joined the firm of Ireland Stapleton Pryor and Pascoe. His practice involves regulatory matters related to health care, energy and elections. Buescher has served on non-profit boards, including the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation, the Governor's Residence Preservation Fund, the Colorado Children's Campaign, Bright by Three, St. Mary's Hospital, the Colorado Health and Hospital Association and the Colorado Youth Conservation Corps.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buescher, Bernie Secretaries of State of Colorado Living people 1949 births People from Grand Junction, Colorado Colorado Democrats