Denver – The Colorado Democratic Party’s Site Selection Committee last evening unanimously voted to recommend that the 2008 State Democratic Convention and Assembly be held at the World Arena in Colorado Springs. The decision followed intensive work, including site visits, by leaders of both Colorado Springs and Broomfield to woo the Democrats to their respective communities. Pursuant to Party rules, the Party’s Executive Committee will vote in July on whether to accept the recommendation.

CDP First Vice Chair and Site Selection Committee Chair Dan Slater talked about the process. "The members of the Site Selection Committee have worked extremely hard over the past two months to ensure that every possible angle of these bids have been examined. While we were very impressed with the bid from Broomfield, in the end, the bid from El Paso County Democrats excelled in every area: technical, political, and in terms of community support. El Paso County’s Democratic Party has proven to be one of the most energetic in the state, and we are confident that they will be the ideal hosts for us in May of 2008."

State Party Chair Pat Waak praised the work of the Committee. "I am very pleased that we had such a hard-working group of people willing to work on this task. I’m confident the Executive Committee will support their recommendation, and I’m excited to nominate our next United States Senator in Colorado Springs."

Waak said that the choice of historically-Republican El Paso County meshed well with the Party’s "64-County Strategy". "We’re competing in all parts of this state. Democrats have better ideas, are better organized, and have better candidates. To consistently win statewide, we have to be willing to take on Republicans everywhere, and we’re doing that. Colorado Springs is changing, as we’ve seen with the elections of Representative Michael Merrifield and Senator John Morse. We’re proud to honor those changing dynamics by bringing the state to Colorado Springs next May."

This was the second time the Colorado Democratic Party had used a competitive site selection process to choose the site for the state assembly/convention. In 2005, the Party chose Greeley as its site for the 2006 State Assembly, and the resulting energy from that event is partially credited by many for Governor Bill Ritter’s historic victory in Weld County in 2006. The Site Selection Committee is comprised of 10 members, plus a non-voting chair, appointed by the State Party Chair. Of the ten members, at least one must come from each of Colorado’s seven Congressional Districts, guaranteeing geographical diversity. A Request for Proposals was sent out to each county Democratic chair in April, 2007, with Broomfield and Colorado Springs submitting bids in May, 2007.