Stan Matsunaka
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Stanley Toshi Matsunaka (born November 12, 1953) is a former Democratic member of the State Senate of the U.S. state of Colorado and served from 1995 to 2003. He served as President of the Senate for two years. In both 2002 and 2004 he lost to Republican Marilyn Musgrave in elections to represent the 4th District of Colorado in the United States House of Representatives).
Matsunaka is a Japanese American native of Akron, Colorado, whose grandparents settled in the state in the early 20th century. Matsunaka grew up in rural Weld County near Fort Morgan and is a graduate of Colorado State University. Matsunaka later moved to Loveland and was elected to the Colorado State Senate. In 2002 he ran against fellow state senator Musgrave for the open seat in the 4th District, which includes the cities of Greeley, Loveland, Longmont, and Fort Collins, as well much of the Colorado Eastern Plains; he lost to Musgrave 55%-42%.
In 2004, he challenged Musgrave, the incumbent, who had attracted controversy in the district for her sponsorship of the Federal Marriage Amendment. He also claimed that Musgrave had poor constituent services and did not give enough attention to the district's needs in his campaign. This time, the election was very close and was not decided until the last returns came in. Musgrave won by six points (51-45%) — the closest margin in the district since 1974. Matsunaka won two of the three biggest counties in the district — Larimer County (where Loveland and Fort Collins are located) and the district's share of Boulder County (including Longmont). However, Musgrave defeated him in Weld County (where Greeley is located); he would have unseated Musgrave had he won there.
In spite of the surprisingly close 2004 results, Matsunaka ruled out a 2006 run.
