Three top legislative staffers are leaving the Capitol to join Scott McInnis’ gubernatorial campaign, another sign of the influence state Minority Leader Josh Penry wields in his former foe’s operation.
Penry dropped out of the race in November and endorsed McInnis. Since then, he has worked tirelessly on his fellow Grand Junction Republican’s behalf, including bringing the former congressman up to speed on state issues.
“Scott is positioning himself for a tough race in the fall and trying to hire the best talent,” Penry said Thursday.
At the same time, McInnis has brought on a new campaign manager, Nancy Hopper, who ran his first congressional campaign in 1992 and is the daughter of former lawmaker Sally Hopper.
Her hire raised political eyebrows because last year McInnis announced he had hired former legislative staffer George Culpepper as his campaign manager.
Culpepper told The Denver Post a few weeks ago that he had formed his own campaign consulting firm. Hopper started Jan. 4.
“I think Scott wanted some fresh eyes,” Hopper said. “I think he probably wanted to have a woman on the team too.”
The three legislative staffers slated to join McInnis’ campaign are:
• Senate GOP chief of staff Mac Zimmerman, a former staffer for U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo.
• House GOP spokesman Tyler Q. Houlton, who worked for Tancredo’s and U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman’s congressional offices.
• Senate GOP policy director Dustin Zvonek, who served as Coffman’s campaign director in 2008.
At this point, it’s unclear when the three will leave, but Penry said it likely will be at different times.
