DENVER, COLORADO, November 3, 2004....While many of the contests in the November 2nd elections were close, the election for the CU Board of Regents from the First Congressional District was not. Michael Carrigan, a Denver attorney at Holland & Hart and former prosecutor was elected by a margin of 72-28% in Colorado's First Congressional District, which includes the City and County of Denver and northern Arapahoe County.
An attorney with the Denver based law firm of Holland & Hart and a 1994 graduate of the CU School of Law, Carrigan was the clear favorite after winning the August 10th Democratic Primary.
"I am honored to be chosen to serve on the Board of Regents at this critical time," said Carrigan. "The public is demanding, and they deserve, strong leadership from the Regents to rescue public higher education in Colorado." Carrigan has named increased public funding for public universities and better access to CU by Colorado's high school students as his two top priorities.
During his campaign, Carrigan earned many endorsements, including The Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post, who called Carrigan a "firebrand lawyer with a passion for CU." Both papers noted that Carrigan will be a strong voice for reform at CU. And he is already looking to build coalitions.
"As business leaders know, having an outstanding public research university in Colorado is vital to our economic future," said Carrigan, a Democrat who says he is not concerned about joining a board with a 6 to 3 Republican majority. "I know that support for public education is not a partisan issues and that my fellow Regents share my hope that CU's best years are still to come."
The Board of Regents is a nine member board that governs the University of Colorado, a $1.8 billion dollar entity that serves as Colorado's third biggest employer.
Carrigan will serve a six-year, unpaid term on the nine member Board of Regents. He will join Steve Bosley, a Boulder Republican, who was elected to fill the at-large vacancy created by the retirement of Jim Martin, and Tom Lucero, also a Republican, who was reelected to represent the Fourth Congressional District.