McPlagiarist resurrects political career with election as county commissioner

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by: Jason Salzman

(Like Dave Balmer says, everybody deserves a second chance – Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Scott McInnis.

It appears that the entire front-range media missed one of the most exciting election stories of 2014: the resurrection of failed GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis!

McInnis, who was taken down by wizard Dan Maes in the 2010 Republican primary, won a seat in November on the Mesa County Board of Commissioners.

If you call his office, you get a message saying:

"Thank you for contacting commissioner Scott McInnis. Although he is unavailable to take your call, your call is important. Please leave your name, phone number, and a brief message. Thank you."

A quick check revealed that this exact phone message (except the name "Scott McInnis") was plagiarized, but McInnis probably had nothing do do with it, as the message was delivered in a woman's voice.

Back in 2010, McInnis was caught by The Denver Post for plagiarizing portions of short articles he wrote on Colorado water issues, commissioned for $350,000 from the Hasan Foundation.

The price tag prompted former Post columnist Ed Quillen to write that he wanted to engage McInnis as "my literary agent, since he knows how to cut some sweet deals.”

McInnis blamed his water-article plagiarism on his ghost writer, Rolly Fisher, but McInnis eventually took some measure of responsibility for it.

Last year, during his county-commissioner race, McInnis washed his hands of any wrong-doing for the plagiarism, telling the Grand Junction Sentinel he regretted admitting to any mistakes about the plagiarism.

“I’ve used ghost writers my whole career. I would have said I didn’t make the mistake. I wasn’t dishonest then and I’m not dishonest now.”

Barring any recalls for un-commissioner-like behavior, which may or may not include plagiarism, he'll serve until 2019.

6 thoughts on “McPlagiarist resurrects political career with election as county commissioner”

gertie97 says:

February 11, 2015 at 9:56 am

Ironically, Scooter is a slight improvement over the other two commissioners. They're both committed teabaggers, which McInnis is not.

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FrankUnderwood says:

February 11, 2015 at 11:16 am

Your post should have been entitled "Musing on Political Resurrections." Did Ali's parents ever get the money back they paid Scooter for his scholarly writing?

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1. Jason Salzman says:
  
  February 11, 2015 at 11:18 am
  
  Yes. Scooter paid them back during the campaign, and they got the money.
  
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mamajama55 says:

February 11, 2015 at 11:38 am

Dang. I've been using McInnis as a bad example for high school plagiarists for years. "If you think that you won't get caught, talk with Governor Scott McInnis."

.But I suppose that County Commissioner is a big step down from the title of Governor of Colorado.

Wasn't McInnis polling pretty well before the plagiarism scandal hit?

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1. FrankUnderwood says:
  
  February 11, 2015 at 11:59 am
  
  All things are relative. He was running against Dan Maes in the primary, so yes, he was polling well. But consider the alternative.
  
  I wonder if County Commish is just a stepping stone on his true path which involves another run for Guv in '18…….
  
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Tom says:

February 12, 2015 at 2:32 pm

At $72k, the salary is a bit of a step down. Luckily for McInnis, county commissioner is an elected position so he can maintain a campaign fund to pay his family members.

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