The Republicans running to replace Gov. Bill Owens next year have declined to back their titular party head’s budget referendums, but they haven’t offered any long-term alternatives for balancing the state budget.
Instead, U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez and former University of Denver president Marc Holtzman talk in generalities about picking the “low-hanging fruit” and cleaning “the corners of the room” to plug a projected $400 million hole.
Meanwhile, the sole Democratic candidate now in the race, former Denver district attorney Bill Ritter, has thrown his full support behind the referendums, saying they are vital to protecting working families from tuition hikes and cuts to other state services.
But the outcome of November’s ballot measures – Referendums C and D – could affect whether Ritter faces opposition in the Democratic primary.
State Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald and House Speaker Andrew Romanoff are considered potential opponents. But both have said they will not make any decisions until after November’s election.
There’s good reason for that. The legislative leaders have sunk considerable time and political capital into crafting and campaigning for the measures and “they have everything riding it on it,” said Bob Loevy, a Colorado College political science professor.
They need to “make sure (they) have the crest of that wave to ride if indeed that wave comes up the shore,” Loevy said. “If the tide turns against C and D, then you forget about gubernatorial ambitions. If it succeeds and there’s a lot of support, that would be the logical time to jump into the race.”
The partisan split among the candidates is not surprising, considering that liberal Democrats largely support the measures and conservative Republicans tend to oppose them. It is those party faithful that are likely to turn out and vote in next year’s primary, political observers said.
“You have to appeal to those members of your party who are influential in the nomination process; … it’s the activists,” said John Straayer, a Colorado State University political science professor.
Beauprez’s office said he voted for the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights in 1992.
Ritter said he voted against it.
Holtzman said he was not a state resident then.
Republicans are in a particularly tough spot because Owens supports the measures.
Beauprez and Holtzman have to appeal to their base without greatly angering the party’s rainmakers and major donors, many of whom side with Owens.
Staff writer Chris Frates can be reached at 303-820-1633 or cfrates@denverpost.com.
