By Matt Masich, LAW WEEK COLORADO
DENVER — Al Meiklejohn, former Republican state senator and attorney with Jones & Keller, died last week at age 86. The Colorado Senate unanimously passed a memorial Monday honoring him for reaching across party lines to improve education and transportation in the state. Current and former senators shared their memories of Meiklejohn, who represented Arvada in the Senate from 1976 to 1996.
–Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, said “it’s rather ironic that it should be me up here sponsoring this memorial.” Hudak ran against the “wildly popular” Meiklejohn in 1992, losing the election 62 percent to 38 percent. Even some of Hudak’s friends confessed they supported Meiklejohn, she said. Hudak herself was “thankful that I had lost the election” when she saw what a strong advocate for education her former opponent was in the legislature. When Hudak called Meiklejohn to congratulate him on his election victory, he encouraged her to stay involved in politics. She took the advice to heart and won election to the Senate in 2008.
–Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, said his father, former Gov. Roy Romer, called Meiklejohn “someone who never let party affiliation get in the way of what was right for Colorado and what was right for kids.” Romer praised Meiklejohn’s two decades of service, and suggested he should have been allowed more. “Al Meiklejohn certainly stands for one of the best arguments ever for why term limits should not be put in place,” Romer said.
–Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, called Meiklejohn “a giant in the legislature on education issues,” and said he was a champion of school choice and home schooling.
–Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, said that when she was a school board member rather than a legislator, she would be “in awe” of Meiklejohn when she came before the Senate Education Committee to testify. Spence, along with several others who spoke, also remembered the prodigious number of cigarettes Meiklejohn smoked on the Senate floor and in committees, back in the old days.
–Sen. Moe Keller, D-Wheat Ridge, served with him on a higher education committee in the early 1990s when she was in the House. By that time, he had apparently replaced his smoking habit: “He would bring a bowl of candy to the meeting,” Keller said. “They were jolly ranchers. He would nervously fiddle with them and he’d unwrap one, and eat another — I never saw any one eat as much candy in an hour and a half.” On a more serious note, she called his leadership “unparalleled,” and added that “his memory is still mentoring.”
–Former Sen. Dottie Wham, a former colleague of Meiklejohn, joked that “he was one of the few lawyers that I trusted. He was a straight shooter” even if “you didn’t always like where he aimed.” When Wham spoke with Meiklejohn not long before he died, he gave her words of encouragement: “Don’t let the bastards get you down,” and “Give ‘em hell.
–Former Senate President Tom Norton, who served with Meiklejohn, said he absolutely hated the rare occasions when they disagreed on an issue. “He was a master of debate and I was an engineer,” he said.
–Former Sen. Norma Anderson worked closely with Meiklejohn on education issues. She recalls he would often “pound the table and say if we [don’t] have children learn to read by third grade, they will fail.’ He said it so many times. I finally said, ‘Senator, it’s time we carried a bill. We’re going to mandate that children learn by third grade or they’re not going on to fourth.’” She added, “Sen. Meiklejohn first and foremost fought for the children of this state.”
–Former Sen. Sue Windels remembered writing a letter education to Meiklejohn before she was a legislator. She was amazed when he called her to talk about it. Meiklejohn supported Windels when she ran for the legislature, even though they were from different parties. “If we could clone Al Meiklejohn and have 100 Al Meiklejohns, I’m sure we could solve so many problems in the this state — and have a lot of fun while doing it,” Windels said.

Stay ahead by signing up for Law Week E-News! >