Former house leader to run for senate seat

DENVER - Former House Majority Leader Keith King is getting back into the political arena.

King, a Republican who left the House because of term limits last year, said Friday that he will run for termlimited Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany’s seat in 2008. The GOP-heavy Senate District 12 covers southern and western Colorado Springs and southwest El Paso County.

Now the administrator of the Colorado Springs Early Colleges charter school, King specialized in charter-school and education legislation during eight years in the General Assembly.

He has been courted by area party and business leaders to seek McElhany’s seat for more than a year and said he decided to make the run because he thinks he can do more to improve the state’s education and business climate.

“There’s a lot of things we are not doing in the K to 12 systems, especially in high schools, that we can do better,” King said.

The 59-year-old former owner of Waterbed Palace had been in line to be speaker of the House before Democrats shocked the GOP and took over the chamber in the 2004 election. He will be considered a favorite over Democrat Pete Lee in the race. Another Republican who had registered to run for McElhany’s seat, Chuck Fowler, decided to drop out of the race, King said.

King’s goals will focus on improving delivery of education to underserved students and students who aren’t succeeding in traditional public schools. He also plans to fight tax increases or efforts that run against his philosophy that government should create a framework for people to accomplish their goals rather than dictate to them what they should accomplish, he said.

King will kick off his campaign Tuesday at the 6 p.m. Colorado Springs Republican Women’s meeting at City Hall, 107 N. Nevada Ave.

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com