The 3rd Congressional District race must be heating up. Supporters of incumbent Democrat U.S. Rep. John Salazar are privately dissing the competition – not over the issues but over his flashy wheels.
Republican businessman Scott Tipton of Cortez is challenging Salazar, who is seeking a second term. Tipton owns Mesa Verde Pottery. The Democratic buzz is that he drives the only Porsche in Montezuma County and that he’ll park it for the campaign to downplay his affluence.
Not true, says Dirk Hallen, Tipton’s campaign manager. Tipton doesn’t drive a Porsche. He drives a Jaguar. And he hasn’t parked it for the campaign. In fact, Hallen said, between the Jag and his F-350 Ford truck, Tipton has logged about 50,000 miles traveling the 29-county district discussing issues such as energy self-sufficiency and the need for secure borders and a tightly controlled guest- worker program. Another thing, Hallen said. Tipton bought the Jag used “because he is fiscally conservative.”
Salazar, a potato seed farmer, won the 2004 congressional race against peach grower Greg Walcher by 12,124 votes. He faces a tough contest in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats 157,000 to 139,000. So what does Salazar drive? When he’s not driving his tractor, spokeswoman Nayyera Haq said, he drives a Chevy Silverado pickup, or his staff shuttles him around.
Job well done
What’s an auditor to do when she leaves office? Colorado Auditor Joanne Hill plans to take a vacation and find another job. She retires this month after 32 years of service. Hill has served as commissioner of insurance and head of financial services for the Judicial Department. She became the state auditor in 2001, succeeding J. David Barba.
Hill has overseen numerous high- profile investigations, including audits of the University of Colorado athletic department following rape allegations and the state’s Homeland Security unit. Even as she prepares to leave, Hill stands ready to subpoena nursing home records from the state health department if the governor fails to sign authorizing legislation. A fond bon voyage.
What a guy
Speaking of farewells, 21 state legislators bid adieu at the close of the legislative session last Monday – a big exodus created in part by term limits.
Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, is among those not term-limited nor running for another office but leaving anyway. Grossman, a lawyer, is taking a job with a non-profit. He told the Senate caucus he plans to help around the house more, given that his wife, an economics professor, is pregnant with the couple’s second child, prompting Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald to declare: “What a man.”
Run, Herb, run
Herb Rubenstein has gotten little attention in his primary bid for the 7th Congressional District, but he could be a factor in the race anyway, says GOP political strategist Katy Atkinson. Rubenstein “has a chance to make life uncomfortable for (Peggy) Lamm and (Ed) Perlmutter because he’s a pure leftist and trying not to be anything else.” In contrast, Lamm and Perlmutter are aiming for the center .
Rubenstein, an adjunct professor at Colorado State University, has spent the campaign reminding the media that he’s in the race. In a recent column, George Will referred to two Democratic candidates, and it was clear Rubenstein wasn’t among them. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report places the 7th CD among the nine most competitive House races in the nation. Rubenstein and Lamm are petitioning onto the August primary ballot. Friday, the district Democratic assembly gave Perlmutter top billing on that ballot.
Julia C. Martinez (jmartinez@denverpost.com) is a member of The Denver Post editorial board.
