October 22, 2009 08:31 PM UTC

Sen. Kester Endorses Penry, Slams McInnis on Pinon Canyon

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Pueblo Chieftain reports:

State Sen. Ken Kester said Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis is “absolutely wrong” about his stance on the U.S. Army’s expansion plans of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

The Las Animas Republican, who’s entering his final year in office, is backing state Sen. Josh Penry of Fruita as the GOP nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter in his re-election bid next year.

Kester, who’s term limited and cannot run for the Colorado Senate again next year, said McInnis is wrong when he says the Pinon issue isn’t a property-rights matter…

Penry, who’s Senate minority leader, has the support of most of his Republican colleagues. Of the 14 senators in the Colorado Legislature, nine are backing Penry (in addition to himself, of course). Of the 24 GOP representatives in the Colorado House, 15 are behind him.

McInnis has endorsements from only four House members, all of whom represent parts of El Paso County, where most of the support for the Pinon expansion can be found…

Kester said that if McInnis should become governor, he’d have a hard, if not impossible, time mending fences with Southeast Coloradans over his Pinon stance.

“I don’t know if he could work well with other people as well as I’ve seen Josh work with people,” he said. “I think he’s pandering to El Paso County because there’s a lot of votes that he’ll get there…”

For background, please see our original post titled “So Much For Southern Colorado, ‘McLobbyist.'”