Dan Slater
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Dan Slater is the first vice chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. An attorney in Cañon City, Colorado, Slater ran unsuccessfully for the Colorado State Senate in 2002 before joining the top leadership of the Colorado Democratic Party in 2003. A delegate to both the 2000 and 2004 Democratic National Conventions, Slater is a superdelegate to the 2008 convention, and has publicly endorsed Barack Obama.
[edit] Biography
Born in La Junta, Colorado and raised in Las Animas, Slater attended the University of Oklahoma, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1994. He earned his law degree from Washington College of Law at American University.[1]
Slater resides in Cañon City, Colorado,[2] where he is an attorney in private practice, specializing in personal injury, employment, and small business law. He was named "Young Lawyer of the Year" in 2004 by the Colorado Trial Lawyer's Association[3] and has served on the Board of Governors of the Colorado Bar Association and the Judicial Performance Commission for Colorado's 11th Judicial District.[1]
Named a "Rising Star" by the Colorado Democratic Party in 2002, Slater was the chair of the Fremont County Democratic Party before running unsuccessfully for the Colorado State Senate in 2002. He has also been a delegate to the 2000 and 2004 Democratic National Conventions.[1]
In 2003, Slater was elected Secretary of the Colorado Democratic Party.[1] He sought the post of state party first vice-chair in 2005, a year that saw contentious battles for party leadership among Colorado Democrats, in what supporters of incumbent chair Chris Gates characterized as a battle between liberal and moderate wings of the state party. [4] Although Slater supported Gates, who was narrowly defeated by Pat Waak, he won election to the vice-chair post over Ted Weverka, in a victory attributed in part to Slater's support among the party "netroots;" Slater was the only member of state party leadership who maintained a blog.[5] Slater continues to blog at DemNotes.com.[6]
As vice-chair, Slater successfully led efforts to move up Colorado's presidential caucus date to February 5, 2008, placing Colorado among other states holding contests on pivotal Super Tuesday.[7] He was also a central player in Colorado Democrats successful bid to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, and was vice-chairman of the Host Committee that presented the bid.[8] Slater considered challenging Waak for the post of state party chair in 2007,[9] but instead sought and gained unanimous re-election to the vice-chair post.[10]
As vice-chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, he is a superdelegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In 2007, he announced his intention to vote for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d About Dan Slater. Dan Slater - Attorney at Law. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ Olinger, David; Chuck Plunkett. "Dems may see superdelegate "chaos"", Denver Post, 7 February 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ Dan Slater - Attorney at Law. Dan Slater - Attorney at Law. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ Florio, Gwen. "Pat Waak elected Colorado Democratic Party chairman", Rocky Mountain News, 9 March 2005. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ Singer, Matt. "Colorado Dems, Fresh Off Successes, Switch Things Up", New West Politics, 7 March 2005. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ DemNotes. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ Marshall, Christa. "Dems move to shake up primaries", Denver Post, 23 July 2006. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ Steers, Stuart. "Union leader quiet at center of the firestorm", Rocky Mountain News, 12 January 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ Haley, Dan. "Christmas gifts for Colorado pols", Denver Post, 17 December 2006. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ State Reorg and JJ Recap... A Few Days late. DemNotes. Retrieved on 2008-02-17.
- ^ Paulson, Steven K.. "Some Colorado superdelegates lining up behind candidates", Denver Post, 30 October 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-16.
