Pitkin County Democratic Party chair announces retirement
Successors for Betty Wallach to be determined at Feb. 6 election
Courtesy photo
Betty Wallach made a promise to her family two years ago that her tenure as Pitkin County Democratic chair would be one term and one term only. Her word was kept on Friday as she told The Aspen Times that she plans to retire from her position in early February.
“This was a promise made to my family that no matter what, even if there was no one available to run this time, I would not run again,” Betty said. “I would just see it through to the presidential election and retire no matter what happened.”
She will officially strike the gavel one last time as chair on Feb. 6, when an election will ensue to determine her successors. Though no candidates have been openly identified, she said she is “so glad that we found two incredibly qualified women to run” as co-chairs.
Betty was elected Pitkin County Democratic chair in February 2023, when her husband, Howie, stepped down after serving as party chair since 2015.
The Pitkin County Democratic Party election, voted upon by a county central committee made up of representatives from its 12 precincts, is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 6 at the second floor community room of the Aspen Police Department.
“The public is invited if the public wishes to come,” she said. “Last time, I believe about 20-25 members of the public came and clapped. And I have friends who say they will be there to support me because I am sure I will be very emotional.”
Roots run deep
Betty, 75, was born 1949 in Brooklyn, New York.
A precocious upbringing, she whizzed through high school and, by 15, was already asking her parents if she could attend Vassar College. Her parents promptly denied her request and instead enrolled her at Brooklyn College of New York.
She met Howie when she was 17.
She then pursued a longtime career in teaching. She’d instruct high school, undergraduate and graduate courses at Brooklyn College for the next 47 years. Her courses included modern contemporary drama, African-American literature, and more.
Her first grand exposure to politics came nearly 60 years ago. Provoked by her position on the Vietnam War, she marched on Washington in support of 1968 presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy, a run commonly referred to as “Clean For Gene.”
“It was an undeclared war. It was called a police action,” Betty said of Vietnam. “We felt it was an unjustified war.”
Amid her political escapades, she made it a mission with Howie and their fellow teachers to hike, backpack, and camp all 50 states. And in summer 1973, the Wallachs one day found themselves driving over Independence Pass, where they encountered their first love for Aspen.
“We came over Independence Pass, and there was a double rainbow because it had rained,” she said. “And it was gorgeous … and there was this town Aspen … and it was gorgeous.”
This experience lured her and Howie to the valley on a more regular basis, as they split time between Aspen and New York. Some valley old-timers might remember the summers the Wallachs spent in Aspen being poetically narrated by her late mother, May Rose Salkin, who regularly wrote poems via letters to the editor to The Aspen Times and Aspen Daily News.
Betty welcomed her first child in 1979, Catherine, who currently lives in New York. Her second child, David, was born in 1981, who to this day can be found working at the local Clark’s Market in Aspen.
“We think we did a fabulous job,” she said of joining Howie in raising their kids, “bringing up wonderful citizens.”
After coming back from retirement in 2004, she spent many years flying back and forth between the valley and New York to once again teach graduate studies at Brooklyn College.
“I kept United Airlines in business,” she joked.
Looking back
Betty keeps holiday cards from the Bidens and Harrises on her home banister.
“I think President Biden has been an absolute gem. I think that he took one for the team by stepping down,” she said. “I think Kamala Harris was a wonderful candidate. She ran a flawless campaign. She has been in our home.”
Despite an allegiance to the Democratic Party — her tenure as chair saw Pitkin County Democrats win 21 of 22 ballot issues — she emphasized her proclivity of reaching across the aisle, saying, “I want it to be understood, we have some very dear, dear Republican friends.”
“She’s hugely talented in her dealings with people, and she brought skills that she had from birth,” Howie said of Betty. “She was teaching since, I don’t know, she was four or five years old. Teachers would leave to go out for a smoke or something, and they left Betty to teach the class.
“It didn’t necessarily ingratiate Betty with her classmates.”
Howie also said he’s deeply relieved she is retiring, saying being party chair “is an all-consuming job if done correctly.”
“It’s time for other people to step up and move the party forward,” he said.
Looking back, however, Betty said she’s going to miss her days with the Pitkin County Democratic Party.
“I have kept the party open, transparent, moral, and values-based, and the values are what we have on our Pitkin County Democrats’ ‘Believe In’ T-shirt,” she said. “Pitkin county Democrats believe in science, a woman’s right to choose, renewable energy, marriage equality, affordable housing, the environment, social security, public lands, affordable healthcare, public education, safe and fair elections, and democracy.”
Ray K. Erku can be reached at (970) 429-9120 or rerku@aspentimes.com.
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