Pols Poll 2: U.S. Senate (Republicans)

by: Colorado Pols

Wed Oct 28, 2009 at 11:00:00 AM MDT

As always, please vote based on what you think will happen, not on who you would vote for or which candidate you support personally. Think of it this way: If you had to bet the deed to your house, who would you pick?

Pols Poll: U.S. Senate (Republicans)

by: Colorado Pols

Tue Sep 29, 2009 at 08:30:00 AM MDT

As we've done in other election years, we regularly poll our readers on various races to gauge changing perceptions. These obviously aren't scientific polls, but they do help to show how the perception of various candidates are changing. We'll conduct these polls each month and then show the results to see how the winds are shifting (click to see the Democratic poll).

As always, please vote based on what you think will happen, not on who you would vote for or which candidate you support personally. Think of it this way: If you had to bet the deed to your house, who would you pick?

Norton Reconsidering Senate Bid?

by: Colorado Pols

Tue Sep 01, 2009 at 07:38:41 AM MDT

As you know, evidence that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) was preparing to devote resources to Norton's campaign--which would have had the effect of severely debilitating primary opponents--caused a major backlash among the Republican rank-and-file last week. By Friday, the situation had gotten to the point that the leading (declared) GOP candidate, Weld County DA Ken Buck, was widely reported to be getting out of the race.

Today, though, everything has changed--Buck is defiantly staying in the race. Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams, who everybody we've talked to believes was intimately involved in the NRSC's backroom commitments to Norton, is running away from this debacle as fast as his denials can carry him. The GOP activist base, now sensitized to what almost happened right under their noses, will be watching for any further shenanigans--and they've used this opportunity to remind leadership in no uncertain terms what they think of "RINOs" like Jane Norton.

So where does that leave her?

Frankly, it depends--if an agreement for Norton to enter the 2010 Senate race was contingent on clearing the primary field for her, as it was for 2008 Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, she's now got a very good reason to reconsider. Or she could decide to stay and fight. Given that Norton has been floated as a potential candidate for higher office for years, and has always declined, it wouldn't shock us if she ultimately decided not to run for Senate.

The word we're getting--we'll remind everyone that it's only a rumor, though on good authority, and people do change their minds regardless--is the backlash of the last few days was considerably more than she bargained for.

The New-Look GOP Field for U.S. Senate

by: Colorado Pols

Tue Aug 25, 2009 at 10:31:41 AM MDT

Beauprez's Out, Which Means Norton's In

by: Colorado Pols

Mon Aug 24, 2009 at 19:59:49 PM MDT

Former Congressman Bob Beauprez will not run for the U.S. Senate, he said in an email to supporters this afternoon.

"Having been presented with the potential to serve in the United States Senate, Claudia and I considered it very carefully. However after significant reflection, I will not be a candidate for the Senate in 2010," he wrote.

His decision leaves four GOP candidates: Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier, Evergreen businessman Dan Maes and Cleve Tidwell of Denver. Last week, the Denver Post reported that former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton is also looking at entering the GOP field.

Let's face it: Beauprez isn't running because he looked around, considered various staffers, and finally realized what we'd been saying for a long time. He. Can't. Win.

It's no secret that Beauprez has been wanting to get back into politics since 2006, but he's still way too much damaged goods.

Meanwhile, Jane Norton's Senate bid is basically a lock at this point. Everybody's talking about it. Democrats we've talked to this evening seem awfully confident, like they know something we don't know. That's likely to be the case for a majority of Colorado voters, a good percentage of whom probably think her first name is Gale. Though to be fair, voters could think her first name was "Ken," and it's still a positive for her. Name ID is name ID, especially in a GOP primary--and general election--where nobody knows anybody.

And for all the buzz about "salvation," we kind of doubt Ken Buck sees it that way--and he's probably the one extant candidate we're not writing off yet.

UPDATE: We omitted Cleve Tidwell from our original post. We regret the error. Deeply.

Ken Buck for...Wait, What?

by: Colorado Pols

Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 17:14:24 PM MST

Buck isn't ready to make any announcements - he's still talking to his fellow GOP types - but he's considering challenging the newly appointed Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet for U.S. Senate come 2010.

"It's fair to say I'm considering a run for one of them, but I'm looking more closely at the Senate race," Buck said. He plans to announce in April.

Sure, a former D.A. is now Governor, but Bill Ritter was the Denver District Attorney, which gets considerably more press and name recognition than any other district attorney. If Buck is seriously considering running for the U.S. Senate, then the GOP is in trouble. Buck would be one of the few candidates they could run who would have less name ID than Michael Bennet.

Original post follows...

Interesting scoop from something called The Holyoke Enterprise. We're guessing they don't even know what they just reported:

Starting early to strategize election wins in 2010, Phillips County Republicans gathered a large turnout at the annual Lincoln Day Soup, Salad and Pie Social Sunday, March 1...

...Also speaking to the Republican delegation were Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, who will announce he's running for U.S. Senate in April [Pols emphasis]; and Cleve Tidwell, an exploratory gubernatorial candidate who plans to announce his intent to run for governor very soon.

We don't have any idea who the hell Cleve Tidwell is, let alone why he would run for Governor. But Weld County D.A. Ken Buck was widely expected to run for congress against Rep. Betsy Markey in CD-4. Perhaps that's what the Holyoke Whatever meant to say, but if not, it looks like Buck just got announced for U.S. Senate.

Buck could be an interesting candidate in CD-4, but running for Senate seems to be just a little bit of a reach. And announcing a Senate run in front of 90 people - well, that's silly. Unless he's following the Bob Schaffer plan of announcing, over and over and over, running for Senate.