March 11, 2006 09:00 AM UTC

Messenbaugh Can't Be Appointed

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• by: Colorado Pols

The probable frontrunner to get the HD-26 appointment after Democrat Betty Boyd is appointed to Sen. Deanna Hanna’s seat is out of the running.

Mark Messenbaugh, who would have likely won the appointment through a vacancy committee, will not be able to take the job because a ruling on his residency did not come out in his favor. Democrats asked the Attorney General’s office for a ruling on Messenbaugh, who moved into the district last summer. Dems thought that Messenbaugh would be able to take an appointment, hoping that the one-year residency requirement was calculated from the November election, not from a potential interim appointment. The AG’s office ruled otherwise, advising the Secretary of State that Messenbaugh would not be eligible for a vacancy committee appointment.

That leaves Andy Kerr and Ric Swain, with a potential third name for the Democrats to emerge in HD-26 for the appointment. The other question is whether Messenbaugh will still seek the seat and run in a primary.