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Blacks lead both houses in Colo.

Senate president, House speaker are Legislature's only black members

By Valerie Richardson (Contact) | Tuesday, January 6, 2009

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DENVER

Terrance Carroll and Peter C. Groff can be forgiven if they're secretly annoyed with the president-elect for stealing their thunder. The two Coloradans are about to make history as the first blacks to preside over both houses of a state legislature in the same session. When the 2009 Colorado legislative session convenes Wednesday, Mr. Carroll will be sworn in as House speaker and Mr. Groff will resume his role as Senate president.

It's a historic first in American politics, albeit one that's been largely overshadowed by the election of the first black man to the presidency. Mr. Groff, who served as Barack Obama's state campaign co-chairman, hinted that he may be getting a little tired of the president-elect's limelight-hogging ways.

"Oh, he owes me now," Mr. Groff said, suppressing a grin. "I was making a speech at the caucus for him, and then his press person interrupted me and announced that he'd won [Colorado]. So that's twice now."

Making their accomplishment even more compelling is that Colorado has a relatively small black population - about 4 percent, far less than the national average of 12.1 percent.

Mr. Carroll is the only black member of the state House of Representatives, and Mr. Groff is the only black member of the state Senate. Both chambers are controlled by Democrats.

At the same time, Colorado, which flipped this year from Republican to Democratic in the presidential race, has long exhibited a political independent streak and disdain for moribund traditions.

"I think that says more about the state than it does about the speaker and me. It says this state is willing to look beyond barriers that were there before," Mr. Groff said.

Mr. Carroll agreed. "Like Dr. [Martin Luther] King said, we're being judged not by the color of our skin but by the content of our character."

Though Colorado isn't known for tense race relations, the state has had its share of past tensions, notably the prevalence of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century.