The Colorado Statesman is a weekly political newspaper published in Denver and it also is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in Colorado. The Statesman covers the Colorado General Assembly, state government, public policy issues, campaigns and elections, the state’s political parties, and the people and personalities behind them. Through Mistro LLC and CVentures Inc., the newspaper is controlled by Denver businessman and homebuilder Larry Mizel.
History
Founded in 1898, The Statesman changed its name from the Colorado Democrat in the 1970s. Longtime editor, publisher and part owner Jody Hope Strogoff told Columbia Journalism Review that the newspaper at that time "became non-partisan and found that in a politically divided state like Colorado, the power players all along the political spectrum, as well as bureaucrats, like the Stateman’s coverage." Strogoff stepped down as publisher on Feb. 22, 2015, following a 35-year career. Former Colorado State Representative Jared Wright, the newspaper's contract cartoonist, assumed the publisher's role.
Former state Rep. Gerald Kopel, "Mr. Colorado Legislature," wrote a weekly column in the newspaper from 1992 until his death in 2012. A partial archive of those columns is available via Archive.org.[1]
On Feb. 4, 2016, the newspaper placed the bulk of its online content behind a paywall, restricting its access primarily to paid subscribers only.