Some Republican business leaders are thinking about abandoning Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez for Democrat Bill Ritter because of Beauprez’s continued opposition to Referendum C.
At least one already has jumped ship.
“I’ve withdrawn my support for Bob Beauprez and am supporting Bill Ritter,” said Loveland lawyer Bill Kaufman, who served as a Republican state representative for eight years. “(Beauprez) is 100 percent wrong on this issue. It’s big enough to affect votes for him.”
Kaufman, who also is a member of the state transportation commission, said he is prepared to back his endorsement of Ritter with money.
He said other Larimer County Republicans will hold a news conference soon to publicly throw their support behind the former Denver district attorney.
Other key business leaders said there is widespread discussion among Republicans who supported Referendum C about whether or not they could still support Beauprez.
John Marshall, campaign manager for Beauprez, said the two- term congressman and former dairy farmer and banker has more in common with business leaders than any other gubernatorial candidate.
“Ultimately, individual members of the business community will realize they agree with Bob much more than they disagree,” Marshall said.
Gov. Bill Owens and many in the GOP business community last fall backed Referendum C, which allowed the state to keep billions of dollars in tax revenues that would have otherwise been refunded to voters. Their concern was that without it, continued budget cuts in higher education, infrastructure and transportation would make it harder to recruit employers to the state.
Many chambers of commerce around the state backed the measure, as well as organizations like the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry. The metro Denver business community pitched in $7.5 million toward passing the initiative.
Even so, business leaders initially shrugged off Beauprez’s opposition to Referendum C. Compared with the other GOP gubernatorial candidate, Marc Holtzman, Beauprez was fairly low-key on the issue.
But last month, Beauprez was the first person to sign a petition for a proposed ballot initiative to send some of the Referendum C money back to taxpayers.
That didn’t go over so well with some.
“I was disappointed,” said Republican Ray Baker, partner of Gold Crown Management and chairman of the Denver Metropolitan Baseball Stadium District, which guided the development of Coors Field.
Baker said he was “trying to give Beauprez a chance,” but he met with Ritter last week.
“I think I’m more open-minded than to base my vote on one issue, but I also think this issue is going to be bigger in the campaign than we think,” he said.
Ritter’s campaign manager, Greg Kolomitz, said Ritter is doing everything possible to reach out to business leaders and has set up a series of business roundtables over the next two weeks.
“People see that Bill supported Referendum C and believes in investing in infrastructure and creating a healthy business climate,” he said. When asked what he thought about GOP business leaders appearing open to a Democrat, let alone one with little business experience, Kolomitz said: “We live in interesting times.”
Donald Kortz, chairman of Denver-based real estate firm Fuller & Co., said Beauprez’s position is being discussed in area business circles.
“I think there is concern that Bob is taking this position, but it’s only one position of many,” said Kortz, a Republican who supported Referendum C.
Staff writer Chris Frates contributed to this report.
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-820-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com.
