Author Archives: Colorado Pols

The Contours of a Gessler vs. Tancredo Primary

11
  by: Colorado Pols Sat May 25, 2013 at 10:27 AM MDT

gesslervtanc

An eventful week in Colorado politics began with the entry of a joke GOP candidate into the Colorado gubernatorial field, which if anything helped underscore the GOP's lack of candidates for this race–followed by that candidate's swift and unceremonious exit as two very well-known Republican political commodities filed to enter the race for the right to take on Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2014. Obviously, it's much better for Republicans to have actual names to discuss this Memorial Day weekend as gubernatorial candidates than some New England carpetbagger named "Laffey."

Now let's ask the next logical question: what would a primary between former Rep. Tom Tancredo and Secretary of State Scott Gessler look like?

(more…)


Full story: The Contours of a Gessler vs. Tancredo Primary

Polsters, Assemble! Can Tancredo Make History?

8
  by: Colorado Pols Fri May 24, 2013 at 12:52 PM MDT

Former Congressman Tom Tancredo is running for Governor again after a failed bid in 2010, but there's a difference: He's back to being a registered Republican.

In 2010, Tancredo ran for Governor as the official candidate of the American Constitution Party. If he wins the Republican nomination for Governor in 2014, would Tancredo be the first Coloradan to make the ballot for Governor in consecutive terms — under a different Party banner?

Polsters, Assemble! Is there a weird kind of history in the making?


Full story: Polsters, Assemble! Can Tancredo Make History?

So Much For Steve Laffey

4
  by: Colorado Pols Fri May 24, 2013 at 10:19 AM MDT
Exit stage right.

Exit stage right.

We received an announcement a short while ago from Steve Laffey, the Rhode Island transplant who briefly entertained the whimsical notion of running for governor of Colorado this week. On account of Laffey being ideologically in sync with Tom Tancredo–thanks for letting sane Colorado voters know this prior to running for anything else, Mr. Laffey–he'll be exiting the clown car.

After Tom's entrance into the Governor's race yesterday, I consulted with my wife and close friends. After discussion and prayer I have decided to withdraw from the 2014 Governor's race in Colorado.
 
I have been in two contentious primaries, against people with whom I disagreed immensely and were leading us in the wrong direction. When I entered this race there was no one else who had the capability to bring the case for Limited Government, Freedom and Jobs to the people of Colorado.   In this case, Tom and I agree on much, plus he is a good and honorable man, has a great background for the job, and will work towards producing more freedom for the people of Colorado.  
 
That would leave us with a divisive primary, arguing over mostly non-issues, splitting the fundraising in Colorado so that little is left for the general election (given Colorado's restrictive campaign laws), and dividing the Republican Party— ending with, for different reasons, the same disastrous results in 2014. Tom stepped in in 2010 on strong principled reasons; this will give a Republican the best chance to win in November.

We're pretty sure this means Laffey realized he was about to become the next Dan Maes. And like with Maes, there's an arithmetic chance that everybody else in the race could implode, and he might actually have to bear a Republican party's standard that he is in no way qualified to bear. Good for Mr. Laffey for having more sense as a vanity candidate than, you know, Dan Maes did. If that sounds like faint praise to you, that's because it is.

And the field is one nobody clearer for The Tanc!


Full story: So Much For Steve Laffey

What to Make of Peter Boyles’ Violent Meltdown?

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  by: Colorado Pols Fri May 24, 2013 at 9:44 AM MDT
Peter Boyles.

Peter Boyles.

9NEWS reports in the aftermath of Tom Tancredo's announcement yesterday that he will run for governor in 2014, which took place on the KHOW 630AM talk show hosted by longtime Denver radio personality Peter Boyles:

Peter Boyles, a well-known and sometimes-controversial radio host in Denver for 630 KHOW, will be off the air Friday after a heated physical exchange with one of his producers, multiple sources connected to the station confirm to 9NEWS.

Employees observed red marks on producer Greg Hollenback's neck within the minutes of the argument, which happened during Thursday morning's broadcast of the Peter Boyles Show.

The sources wished to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

"Everyone here is disappointed and devastated," one employee told 9NEWS.

That's about all that's been said publicly about yesterday's incident. We don't know what Boyles and his producer were arguing about, or how it apparently escalated to Boyles attacking the man–described by other sources as a "throttling." What we do know is these two men have worked together for some 20 years, and that the incident happened just after Tancredo's gubernatorial campaign announcement yesterday. 9NEWS was reportedly still at the station to cover that announcement when this happened.

There was a time when Peter Boyles was considered a respectable commentator among the many qualitatively varying personalities who have inhabited Denver AM radio over the years. Sometimes known for astute criticism of local government, such as during the murder investigation of JonBenet Ramsey, more recently Boyles has descended into "birther" conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama, and strident anti-immigrant posturing most endearing to the pro-Tancredo set. Another recent controversy involving Boyles was his repeated reference to Rep. Diana DeGette by the name of "Vagina DeGette," presumably for elementary school giggles.

Yesterday, Boyles freaked out and choked his producer. And today he's off the air. What set him off, folks?

If this is the end of his long and tumultuous career, we'd kind of like to know.


Full story: What to Make of Peter Boyles’ Violent Meltdown?

BREAKING: Gessler Repays State For RNLA/RNC Expenses

21
  by: Colorado Pols Thu May 23, 2013 at 12:08 PM MDT

UPDATE #3: The Denver Post's Lynn Bartels:

Secretary of State Gessler filed paperwork to run for governor on Thursday, two days after reimbursing the state nearly $1,300 for a political trip to Florida last year.

His political director, Rory McShane, said Gessler's decision to reimburse the money — which led to an ethics complaint against the Republican office-holder — has nothing do with his election plans…

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UPDATE #2: In a obviously closely related development, Stokols now reporting that Gessler has officially filed paperwork to run for governor in 2014.

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UPDATE: FOX 31's Eli Stokols:

“After many months of attempting to defend himself from this political attack, it became obvious that the Ethics Commission simply wasn’t going to give the Secretary a fair hearing,” Gessler’s spokesman, Andrew Cole, told FOX31 Denver.

“So he decided to pay the money back in an effort to move on from this episode and get back to work for the people of Colorado.”

—–

Big news today in the ongoing ethics and criminal investigation against Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler. A press release we received moments ago from Colorado Ethics Watch explains:

After nearly seven months of defending himself, and reportedly charging the state more than $60,000 in legal defense bills, Secretary of State Scott Gessler has reimbursed the State of Colorado $1278.90 for state money spent on a political trip to Florida in 2012.
 
Colorado Ethics Watch filed a complaint with the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission in October asking the IEC to investigate and determine whether Gessler misappropriated state funds for personal or political use when he was reimbursed for travel to a Republican election law training event and the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August.  In response to the complaint, the Independent Ethics Commission (IEC) investigated the transactions.  The Denver District Attorney also announced in November that he would launch a criminal investigation.
 
“We’re pleased that the Secretary finally did what he should have done months ago – repay the state for funds used to attend a Republican Party event,” said Luis Toro, director of Colorado Ethics Watch.  “This should send a message to all elected officials that public funds are not for personal or political use.”

It would appear that Gessler has given up the long and costly fight to defend his use of office discretionary funds on what has every appearance of partisan political purposes–the national conference of the National Republican Lawyers Association, and the immediately-following Republican National Convention last summer.

It's possible that conceding defeat and repaying these funds will help Gessler put this ethics and criminal investigation behind him ahead of a possible run for governor next year. We'll see what the IEC and Denver DA do with this, but another way to look at it is an admission of guilt after a lengthy and embarrassing public spectacle.

And that's not so good for one's political career either, folks.


Full story: BREAKING: Gessler Repays State For RNLA/RNC Expenses

Today In BS: How It Gets Spread (Even If You’re Dead)

18
  by: Colorado Pols Thu May 23, 2013 at 9:13 AM MDT

THURSDAY UPDATE #2: Media Matters weighs in with gusto:

Kopel is not a reputable source of information in the gun policy debate. [Pols emphasis] During a December 2012 appearance on CNN to discuss a high-profile shooting involving an NFL player, Kopel falsely claimed that there is no link between gun availability and homicide rates, even though that fact has been established by numerous studies. Kopel also exaggerated the level of violence in the United Kingdom, which has strict gun laws, compared to the United States, even though the United States far outpaces England — and all other high-income nations — in gun homicide and homicide rates generally.

A frequent contributor of feature stories to the NRA's magazine, America's 1st Freedom, Kopel promoted the conspiracy theory that the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty — a proposal to crack down on the supply of weapons to human rights abusers — could lead to the "total disarmament of freedom-loving people all over the world."

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THURSDAY UPDATE: The Poynter Institute has gotten wind of this story, and the involvement of Dave Kopel–who rather ironically has been visiting faculty at this nationally known journalism school.

Daniele Perazzi died in 2012. The “incident is devoid of any foundation and the news is completely fabricated,” the company said in a statement.

And the woman who contacted the station wasn’t an attorney, KDVR now says. But she wasn’t the only one flogging the story, KDVR reports: [Pols emphasis]

David Kopel, a nationally-recognized Second Amendment attorney with the Independence Institute in Denver, first told FOX31 Denver about the alleged incident Saturday. He referred us to Korrine Aguirre, who, it now appears, concocted an elaborate but false story.

Kopel has been visiting faculty at Poynter and recently spoke at a Poynter seminar on how to cover guns… [Pols emphasis]

We assume they will be asking Kopel to explain this incident in a future seminar.

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UPDATE: FOX 31 finally explains what happened here, and you'll never guess where they got it from:

David Kopel, a nationally-recognized Second Amendment attorney with the Independence Institute in Denver, [Pols emphasis] first told FOX31 Denver about the alleged incident Saturday. He referred us to Korrine Aguirre, who, it now appears, concocted an elaborate but false story…

Oh no, Dave Kopel! Better not put this one in your opening statement. And reporters, maybe keep this in mind next time you're inclined to take Kopel's word for something? He's not actually the reliable source he is widely credited to be, this just being the latest example.

(more…)


Full story: Today In BS: How It Gets Spread (Even If You’re Dead)

The Tanc Is Back

23
  by: Colorado Pols Thu May 23, 2013 at 8:37 AM MDT
Tom Tancredo.

Tom Tancredo.

As the Denver Post's Kurtis Lee reported late last night:

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, known for his strong stances on immigration, said late Wednesday night he plans to formally announce a run for governor on a conservative talk radio show Thursday.

“This Dunlap thing is the last straw,” said Tancredo in a message.

As most of our readers know, former Rep. Tom Tancredo challenged Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2010, following the implosion of leading GOP contender Scott McInnis in a plagiarism scandal leaving the hopelessly unqualified Dan Maes as the Republican nominee. Tancredo temporarily affiliated with the minor American Constitution Party to mount his bid, as it was too late for him to run as a Republican.

Notwithstanding whatever boost a Tancredo campaign might get in the short run from Hickenlooper's controversial decision to grant a reprieve to convicted murderer Nathan Dunlap, the fact remains that Tancredo is a symbol of everything the modern GOP is trying to get away from. Tancredo's anti-immigrant obsession has made him a repellent figure among the fast-group bloc of voters in the United States, and his frequent extreme rhetorical outbursts make Tancredo a severe liability to his political allies every time he grabs a microphone.

Having said that, he did get lots of endorsements in 2010, and just over 36% of the vote in a three-way race.

Does Tancredo have the clout in Republican circles to forestall a widely-expected primary? Or will we see a drawn-out contest between Tancredo, Greg Brophy, Scott Gessler–and maybe others? We, and Gov. Hickenlooper, will be watching closely.

UPDATE: As announced on Peter Boyles' radio show this morning:

tancjuices


Full story: The Tanc Is Back

Two Down–Hudak Recall Attempt “Suspended”

13
  by: Colorado Pols Wed May 22, 2013 at 4:53 PM MDT

Vic Vela of the Arvada Press reports today:

Organizers who were seeking to recall Sen. Evie Hudak, D-Westminster, are suspending their petition-gathering efforts, according to an email obtained by Colorado Community Media on May 22.

Organizers told recall volunteers in the email that they are making a “strategic decision” to suspend their efforts to recall Hudak, so that they could focus on the ongoing recall efforts aimed at state Senate President John Morse of Colorado Springs, and Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo, both of whom are Democrats.

The organizers said in the email that they intend to “restart” their petition-gathering efforts against Hudak after they are successful in their recall attempts against Morse and Giron.

However, the clock is ticking on that effort. Organizers only have until June 10 to submit more than 18,000 recall petition signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

Over the past few weekends, the number of volunteers working the recall petition beat against Sen. Evie Hudak is said to have consistently dwindled, and it became apparent early on to organizers that they wouldn't come anywhere near the 18,000 signatures needed to successfully place her recall on the ballot. Hudak's signature requirement was the highest of any of the four Democrats who had recall petition attempts begin against them, and as soon as it was clear that opponents wouldn't be mounting paid signature drives against her, Hudak was safe.

With Rep. Mike McLachlan's recall drive having ended in failure yesterday, that leaves only Sens. Angela Giron of Pueblo and John Morse of Colorado Springs as possible legislators up for recall. The statement above about volunteers heading to Pueblo is worth noting, but the fact remains that Morse is the only recall most likely headed for the ballot at this point–and that, should it occur, only the result of a paid signature gathering effort.

Notwithstanding pay-to-play, folks, there's no sign in these developments any "sleeping giant" has "awakened."


Full story: Two Down–Hudak Recall Attempt “Suspended”

BREAKING: Hickenlooper Grants Temporary Reprieve for Dunlap

35
  by: Colorado Pols Wed May 22, 2013 at 1:40 PM MDT

UPDATE: #3: Attorney General John Suthers fires off a highly political response to today's decision:

The defendant was eligible for the death penalty under Colorado law. The district attorney believed the defendant deserved the death penalty. A jury of twelve citizens of Colorado determined that he deserved the death penalty. And a plethora of appellate courts have upheld the jury’s decision. But Governor Hickenlooper simply cannot cope with the task of carrying out the execution of Nathan Dunlap or exercising his constitutional mandate.

Executive authority to modify criminal punishment is part of our constitutional system, and I respect that. However, the citizens of Colorado deserve honesty and the victims deserve finality. I believe the governor’s decision does not stem from anything but his personal discomfort about the death penalty. I also believe that the governor should have been much more up front with the voters when he ran for office if he couldn’t carry out the death penalty.

I have an excellent working relationship with the governor and I respect him very much. Yet it’s been apparent to me that issues of crime and punishment are not his strength. John Hickenlooper is an optimist. He has proven to be uncomfortable confronting the perpetrators of evil in our society. I saw this when I discussed last year’s juvenile direct-file bill with him. He had trouble comprehending that a 16 or 17-year-old is capable of brutal acts deserves adult punishment. I saw it in his naïve views about the role of administrative segregation in our prisons. And I’ve heard it in my discussions with him about the death penalty. The governor is certainly entitled to these views, but granting a reprieve simply means that his successor will have to make the tough choice that he cannot.

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UPDATE #2: Press release announcing today's executive order after the jump.

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UPDATE: 9NEWS' Blair Schiff:

Under a reprieve, Dunlap could conceivably be executed some day. The reprieve will stay in place until Hickenlooper or another governor lifts it.

Arguably the most difficult decision of his political career, Hickenlooper's decision may earn him blowback as prosecutors are currently seeking the death penalty against James Holmes for the mass murder at an Aurora movie theater.

The death toll in the Dunlap case is not as high as the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, but it shares similarities. Dunlap was convicted in 1996 of killing four employees at a Denver-area Chuck E. Cheese restaurant in 1993. The jury sentenced him to die. His last guaranteed appeal was rejected this year. His execution was scheduled for August 2013.

FOX 31:

The reprieve can only be lifted with another executive order, and Hickenlooper said at a 2 p.m. news conference it’s highly unlikely he will revisit the issue again.  That means it would be up to his successor to decide to stay the execution or allow it to resume.

“This weighed on me heavily for a year,” Hickenlooper said in explaining his decision to reporters.  He spoke slowly and deliberately.

“I could not find the justice in making” a decision to allow Dunlap to die, he said.

—–

We'll update shortly with coverage and the full text of the statement–word breaking now that Gov. John Hickenlooper has granted a temporary reprieve to death-row inmate Nathan Dunlap,  citing questions about the application of the death penalty generally–while acknowledging the "horrific" nature of Dunlap's crime. 

(more…)


Full story: BREAKING: Hickenlooper Grants Temporary Reprieve for Dunlap

Dick Wadhams Gets Another Shot at Glory

3
  by: Colorado Pols Wed May 22, 2013 at 12:06 PM MDT

We missed Dick.

We missed Dick.

​With a H/T to reporter Marianne Goodland, Roll Call's Kyle Trygstad:

Veteran GOP operative Dick Wadhams has signed on as general consultant for the leading candidate in one of the GOP’s top Senate pickup opportunities.

Former South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds announced on Wednesday that he has retained Wadhams to help lead his campaign.

The election next year will come a decade after Wadhams’ last triumph in the state — managing now-Sen. John Thune’s 2004 upset of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

“Dick’s reputation as a battle tested strategist, coupled with his insight into South Dakota’s political landscape make him the perfect complement to our team,” Rounds said in a statement. “We’ve been considering individuals to fill this role for months and we continued to come back to Mr. Wadhams.”

It's been a rough few years for the formerly legendary Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. Arguably Wadhams' greatest triumph as a campaign manager came in South Dakota, though, when he masterminded Sen. John Thune's 2004 victory. Wadhams gained his reputation after massaging former Sen. Wayne Allard of Colorado, one of the least inspiring men to ever serve in the United States Senate, into two election wins over Democratic challenger Tom Strickland. Since 2004, however, Wadhams has presided over a string of defeats for Senate candidates in several states including Colorado continued losses for the GOP as Colorado party chairman, and the 2010 gubernatorial debacle that more or less broke the party's back here. Wadhams fell so far, so fast, that it's easy to forget that he was once near the pinnacle of his profession; Wadhams managed the 2006 re-election campaign of Sen. George Allen in Virginia, which was supposed to have been a formality along the way toward a run for President in 2008. But then "Macaca" happened.

Perhaps Gov. Mike Rounds will be Wadhams' ticket back to winner's circle. His résumé‎ hopes so.


Full story: Dick Wadhams Gets Another Shot at Glory