Bernie Buescher new Secretary of State

State Rep. Bernie Buescher (D-Grand Junction) was appointed Colorado Secretary of State on Friday by Gov. Bill Ritter.

Buescher will have to be approved by the State Senate before taking office. Deputy Secretary of State Bill Hobbs was named by Ritter to be interim Secretary of State until Buescher is confirmed.

Current Secretary of State Mike Coffman, who was elected to Congress last month, will resign Dec. 31.

Buescher was named over outgoing House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D-Denver) and outgoing state Sen. Ken Gordon (D-Denver).

Buescher said at a news conference Friday that his "first priority" as Secretary of State will be to "develop a good, strong, solid, collaborative working relationship with the 65 (sic) county clerks."

The 59-year-old former tax attorney said he will "absolutely" run for Secretary of State in 2010.

Buescher said Romanoff and Gordon would have both made "excellent" secretarys of state.



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