Loveland
The Jim Welker love train derailed just outside the station.
The embattled Loveland Republican representative surprised many friends Saturday at the Larimer County GOP assembly. He declined their nomination for re-election to the state legislature.
That disappointed dozens of local party activists.
But Welker immediately ran afoul of these adoring constituents by trying to force-feed them his successor.
“I almost feel like I’m being railroaded,” Judith Uhrig said moments after she and others gave Welker a heartfelt standing ovation for his service. “I don’t like that feeling.”
Many in the crowd at Loveland High School cared little about the reasons for Welker’s demise – forwarding a racist e-mail to legislators and bashing gays.
Cherry-picking a nominee to take his place, however, was a huge problem.
It smacked of backroom king-making by a Republican hierarchy that had expressed concerns about Welker’s ability to hold his seat in November.
Many party activists didn’t even know Kevan McNaught, the candidate Welker meant to anoint.
“This person presented, I’ve never heard of or met,” said Larry Sarner, echoing comments throughout the room. “We could be in danger of losing this seat to the Democrats because we look like power-hungry individuals.”
That was why a quick attempt to close nominations after Welker named McNaught failed. It wasn’t the man, insisted upset participants, it was the process.
“Everybody ought to have the opportunity to run,” Uhrig said, “not push (McNaught) in front of everyone else.”
The political fix was as ham-handed as the ugly e-mails and crazy statements that eventually cost Welker his House seat. Whatever else he did, Welker always will be remembered as the guy who passed along an e-mail titled “Moral poverty costs blacks in New Orleans.” He will be remembered as the lawmaker who said legalizing gay marriage could lead to people marrying dogs and horses.
Party leaders feared bad publicity from Welker’s accumulated fiascoes could hurt the GOP. Welker admitted that some Republican big shots – including Gov. Bill Owens and House Minority Leader Mike May – were concerned that Welker’s bad press would “make it harder to win” a seat that was supposed to be a Republican lock.
Many in the crowd at Loveland High said that wasn’t true.
Minutes before Welker turned down the nomination, a man tried to give him a $20 bill for his re-election campaign.
A woman commiserated. “I’m so sorry for what (the press) did to you,” she said.
Cliff Bryan, a former state representative and Welker’s regular golfing partner, thought his pal withdrew “mostly because he was labeled as a racist.”
“He’s not a racist,” said Bryan. “He would have won hands down (if he’d run).”
While declining the nomination, Welker never mentioned his infamous gaffes. Instead, he fell back on the old spend-more-time-with-my-family excuse. But he added to his legacy of misadventures by nominating McNaught and trying to short-circuit the selection process.
That seemed to tick off folks worse than distributing racist e-mail and encouraging homophobia.
Welker claimed he had talked to “several” people who wanted to run for his seat. He said McNaught had “the fire in the belly.” McNaught, a Loveland businessman, may also have had the behind-the-scenes blessing of party bosses.
Welker claimed that he only decided to endorse McNaught on Saturday morning. This would have been a lot more believable if McNaught had not shown up for the GOP meeting with full-color campaign brochures.
The brochures stank of smoke-filled rooms, which resulted in a grassroots revolt that forced McNaught to agree to put his selection on hold.
Shortly before he and others voted to wait until April 19 to pick a nominee to replace Welker, David Crowder gave voice to the crowd’s sense of betrayal.
“Powers outside the 51st District have had more to do with this process than we did,” Crowder said.
That was simply not going to happen.
Replacing Jim Welker, explained GOP activist Leo Wotan, “needs to continue on a broad base, not a railroad track.”
Jim Spencer’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 303-820-1771 or jspencer@denverpost.com.
