Assassination attempt

On July 16, 2007, 33-year-old Aaron Snyder stormed the Capitol while holding a pistol and threatening to kill Governor Ritter.^[5] Snyder was shot and killed outside Ritter's offices by State Trooper Jay Hemphill.^[6]

Popularity

At the start of his term, Ritter was relatively popular with rural Coloradans, who in the past have tended to vote for Republican candidates (particularly Front Range voters). Ritter's rural roots and construction work background may have appealed to them.

His popularity also extended to the Democratic strongholds in Colorado: the voters of the continental divide ski resorts such as Aspen and Vail, as well as the Denver-Aurora metropolitan area. An August 2007 poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports showed Ritter's approval rating at 60%, while 36% were disapproving and 4% remained undecided.^[7]

By July 2008, however, Ritter's approvals had begun a sharp decline, with a Rasmussen poll showing his approvals at 45%.^[8] His numbers failed to improve—an April 2009 poll by Public Policy Polling showed the governor's approvals had declined to 41%, with 49% disapproving of his performance. More significantly, the same poll also showed Ritter trailing his most likely 2010 opponent, former U.S. Representative Scott McInnis, by 7 points.^[9] Though Ritter cited family reasons in his January 2010 announcement that he had decided not to run for re-election, he was dogged by rumors that his poor polling numbers led Democratic power brokers to force him out of the race.^[10]

Political positions

As a member of the Democratic Party, Ritter supports a "semi-progressive" agenda, emphasizing universal health care, environmental protection, housing subsidy and welfare increases, and other stances aligned with the left-wing of the Democratic Party. During his first campaign, more progressive state Democratic leaders encouraged other candidates, including Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, to pursue the Governorship, because of concerns over Ritter's anti-abortion stance. Others believed that Ritter would be more successful in the purple state than Republican opponents. Hickenlooper did not pursue the office in 2006 and he eventually supported Ritter. Ritter opposes same-sex marriage in another culturally conservative position.^[11]

Ritter pledged that, as governor, he would not act to overturn abortion laws and he would veto any bill prohibiting abortion that did not provide for an exception for rape, incest, or fetal anomalies.^[12] Ritter further stated that he would restore state funding to Planned Parenthood for family planning and would reverse the veto of a bill that would have allowed pharmacists to dispense the emergency contraception known as the morning-after pill. Ritter also staked out moderate positions on business and labor issues, vetoing legislation in 2007 that would have made it easier for workers to form unions,^[13] and, mid-term, naming moderate Republican Don Marostica his director of economic development.^[14]