The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel was on-again, off-again, on-again Thursday with its endorsement of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter.
The Western Slope’s largest daily newspaper accidentally posted the endorsement on its website Thursday morning – and then pulled it down.
“We have not officially endorsed anybody in the governor’s race at this point,” Bob Silbernagel, the paper’s editorial page editor said Thursday afternoon.
But many Internet surfers already knew that Ritter, not Republican U.S. Rep.Bob Beauprez, was the choice of the Sentinel, the hometown paper of Beauprez’s running mate, Janet Rowland.
That’s because ProgressNow.org had included the link on its daily e-mail listing of news articles, a link that is sent to thousands of subscribers.
After the Sentinel removed the endorsement, another website, Coloradopols .com, offered readers a sneak peek of it: “And even though we have little doubt that GOP-friendly Mesa County will favor Beauprez come Nov. 7, we heartily endorse Ritter for governor.”
By late afternoon, the endorsement was back online. It’ll run in print today.
The Sentinel is among the first papers to make an endorsement in the governor’s race. On Wednesday, the Montrose Daily Press also endorsed Ritter.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-954-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
