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Democrats still mad at Curry

Scott Condon
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO Colorado

DENVER – State Rep. Kathleen Curry continued to pay a political price Friday for defecting from the Democratic party.

Curry, whose district includes Aspen and the rest of the Roaring Fork Valley, was removed from the House of Representative’s Appropriations Committee and replaced by a Democrat. Curry changed her affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated in December. She still earned assignment in January to Appropriations, a committee she wanted to participate on. She was informed Friday by House Speaker Terrance Carroll she was being taken off the committee. That change will place eight Democrats on the 13-member committee going into the important budget process.

Curry said both parties generally try to pack key committees with loyal members. “They just want to control the votes and I’m not controllable,” she said.



The move didn’t surprise her. “I was surprised when I was put on Appropriations in the first place,” she said.

Curry was stripped of her title as speaker pro tem, the second in command in the House, when she changed to unaffiliated. She was also removed as chair of the Agriculture Committee, though she remains a member.




She said she is asked daily by Republicans to join or at least caucus with them. “I’m not interested. I have nothing against either party,” she said.

But a new party would just bring the old routine: she would be expected to toe the party line, she said. She prefers the independence.

scondon@aspentimes.com