Colorado Democrats, who are enjoying a record year of wins, might not want to turn their backs just yet.
Dick Wadhams, the state’s top political gunslinger, is returning, and GOP powerbrokers are wooing him to become the next state party chairman.
“Once Dick was willing to talk to us, everybody else we were thinking about for chairman was put on hold,” said Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, who along with a number of others started recruiting Wadhams three weeks ago.
Wadhams – politically brutal enough to be considered a Republican hitman and smart enough to be recently dubbed “Rove 2.0” by Washington Monthly – said Thursday that he had been “talking to a lot of people” in Colorado, but he offered no details.
“I’m thinking about a lot of things,” said Wadhams, who is leaving Virginia today after wrapping up final details on Sen. George Allen’s failed re-election campaign.
Allen appeared ready to sail into a second term until August, when he called an Indian-American man “macaca,” considered by some cultures as a racial slur. His campaign, run by Wadhams, was never able to recover.
Wadhams has run successful U.S. Senate campaigns in Montana and South Dakota. In Colorado, he orchestrated Wayne Allard’s 1996 and 2002 Senate wins and Gov. Bill Owens’ 1998 successful gubernatorial bid.
The two-year term of Colorado’s current GOP chairman, Bob Martinez, expires in March. He said Thursday that he doesn’t expect to run for re-election.
“At this point, under the circumstances, someone else should give it a shot,” he said.
The GOP lost the governorship and failed to retake either chamber of the state legislature in November. Most political observers, however, chalked it up to a bad year for Republicans nationwide, not Martinez’s leadership.
But recruitment of a heavy-hitter like Wadhams is considered a necessity for the GOP because of the heavy losses. As a result, the chair position, which is uncompensated, may turn into a full-time paid post.
“We will address that,” McElhany said. “The state party needs to be reconstructed. All options are on the table.”
Additionally, Martinez said he has been working on a two-year plan for the next chairman that “reminds the party faithful of core principles” such as fiscal responsibility, smaller government and personal freedoms.
Staff writer Karen Crummy can be reached at 303-954-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com.
