With the election just 10 days out, voters don’t seem to be paying much attention to who will be Colorado’s next top law enforcement official, head financial officer or leading elections official.
And those who are paying attention are almost evenly split between Republican and Democratic candidates for attorney general, treasurer and secretary of state, according to a new poll.
Nearly half of those surveyed don’t recognize the name of the current attorney general, John Suthers, who is seeking to retain the position to which Gov. Bill Owens appointed him. It’s even worse for his Democratic opponent, Fern O’Brien. More than 60 percent of those polled didn’t recognize her.
Forty-five percent don’t recognize Republican treasurer candidate Mark Hillman, and 58 percent don’t recognize his opponent, Democrat Cary Kennedy.
In the secretary of state race, nearly a third don’t recognize the name of Republican Mike Coffman, even though he’s been the state treasurer since 1999. Only 46 percent recognized his Democratic opponent, Ken Gordon, who is the state Senate majority leader.
Stepping stone to big time
The lack of public interest is disheartening considering the importance of the offices, said John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University.
“What you preach as good civics is not necessarily what the public is up to,” Straayer said.
He noted that the positions can be launching pads for major political careers. Both Bill Owens and Roy Romer were treasurer before they became governor. Ken Salazar was the attorney general before he became a U.S. senator.
Republicans have a 170,000-voter registration advantage over Democrats, but the statewide poll by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research shows the races in a dead heat, with nearly a quarter of voters still undecided. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
Suthers has the biggest advantage of the statewide candidates, leading O’Brien 36 percent to 33 percent, with 25 percent undecided and 6 percent backing Libertarian candidate Dwight Hartig.
“We’ve been running like we’re 10 points behind even though the media has written our race off a long time ago,” said Suthers’ campaign manager, Rich Coolidge. “We’ve been endorsed by every major newspaper in Colorado.”
His Democratic opponent found the poll results energizing.
“It backs up what I’ve been hearing throughout this past summer,” O’Brien said. “People want someone who hears the issues and their concerns and isn’t a career politician.”
Locked in a dead heat
Coffman is barely leading Gordon in the secretary of state’s race, 39 percent to 38 percent, with 23 percent undecided.
And Kennedy and Hillman are locked at 37 percent each, with 26 percent undecided.
Hillman said he expects his grassroots volunteers will make the difference.
“That’s really going to pay off, and we’ll rely on those people who have stepped up all year to help our campaign,” he said.
But Kennedy said her campaign has overcome the GOP’s voter-registration advantage.
“We knew it was going to be tight,” she said. “But there’s great momentum for us in the final weeks.”
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
