Kucitizens and Mike Miles supporters win in Colorado

[eridani]

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36%257E53%257E2747528,00.html

Months after their historic wins in November, Colorado Democrats have ousted party chairman Chris Gates in an upset organized by activists angered by his handling of Mike Miles' failed bid for the U.S. Senate.

Pat Waak, a nonprofit director from Erie who is little known in statewide political circles, narrowly edged out Gates in a final vote of 187 to 184 during Saturday's meeting of the Democratic State Central Committee.

Gates is challenging the outcome because he said ballot counters threw out on a technicality seven votes cast for him by members not in attendance Saturday. Party staffers were unclear Saturday night about what specifically was wrong with those ballots.

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Her victory Saturday isn't the first for disaffected Miles backers, many of whom are new to party activism and have e-mailed and met regularly since their liberal candidate lost to moderate Salazar in last spring's primary. Last summer, the group sent by far the nation's largest contingent of Dennis Kucinich delegates to July's Democratic National Convention in Boston.