Attorney will campaign for state senate

DENVER - A Colorado Springs attorney will announce his candidacy for the open state Senate District 12 seat next week, becoming the first official Pikes Peak-area legislative candidate in the 2008 races.

Democrat Pete Lee, 59, has never run for office but has worked with Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, on writing bills dealing with restorative justice, a system in which victims and offenders meet and decide on appropriate punishment.

If elected, Lee said he also hopes to work on increasing access to health care, cutting the state’s high school dropout rate and reforming the criminal justice system. A board member for Pikes Peak Mental Health, he said more must be done to treat those in prison for substance abuse so that fewer return to jail.

Senate District 12, which is being vacated by term-limited Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, is a Republican-heavy district in northern and eastern Colorado Springs. Lee said he hopes to put across a platform that will attract bipartisan support.

“The issues that are important to me are not Democratic issues or Republican issues. They are community issues,” Lee said Tuesday. “We can reach out and appeal to all people who are involved in the community.”

His official announcement is slated for 3 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Penrose Library Carnegie Room.

No Republicans have announced for the seat yet.

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