BackboneAmerica

John Andrews heads up the Denver-based national citizens’ alliance for conservative reform, Backbone America. “We rally citizens for the hard work of shouldering personal responsibility and restoring constitutional government,” the group’s mission statement declares.

Andrews was previously President of the Colorado Senate, chairman of the State Policy Network, and director of TCI Cable News. He does a radio talk show, a TV commentary, a Denver Post column, and a blog for PoliticsWest.com; holds fellowships at the Independence Institute and the Claremont Institute; and consults for legislative leaders in other states.

Senator Andrews has been a leading conservative voice since his student days during the Vietnam War. He was a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon; an education appointee under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush; founder of the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank; and Republican nominee for Governor of Colorado in 1990.

He was a state senator from 1998 to 2005, leaving on a term limit. As Minority Leader he led the GOP back to majority control. As Senate President he helped pass bills establishing education vouchers at both the K-12 and college levels, extending tort reform, reducing union control of state employees, expanding charter schools, requiring parental notification when a minor seeks an abortion, and restoring the Pledge of Allegiance in classrooms.

Senator Andrews’ legislative achievements also included bills cutting the capital gains tax, curbing the matricula ID card for illegal immigrants, providing toll lanes to reduce traffic congestion, outlining a statewide water policy, and drawing permanent congressional districts. He put into law the School Sunshine Act to keep teacher unions accountable, the Read to Achieve program for school improvement, and Colorado’s Defense of Marriage Act.

He was honored as national legislator of the year by the American Legislative Exchange Council, and as family legislator of the year by the Rocky Mountain Family Council. The Colorado Union of Taxpayers saluted him as a defender of TABOR, the state’s tax limit.

“I’m committed to defending the permanent things,” says the Presbyterian elder and former senator. “We must reassert the timeless political principles of the American founding, together with the moral and spiritual truths of our Judeo-Christian heritage.”

John was born in Michigan and grew up in the Colorado mountains. He served as a US Navy submarine officer after graduating from Principia College in 1966. His wife of 41 years is the former Donna D’Evelyn of Bakersfield, California. They have three grown children and a grandson, all living in the Denver area.