BROOMFIELD, Colo.—The Republican front-runner to win the party’s nomination in the Colorado governor race and the state’s Democratic senator were dealt setbacks in party assemblies on Saturday.
Republicans voted to place businessman Dan Maes ahead of former congressman Scott McInnis on the August primary ballot for governor, while Democratic challenger Andrew Romanoff will get top billing on the ballot over incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet after winning the most votes at the state Democratic assembly.
Both assemblies were marked by the nationwide anti-incumbent and anti-political insider mood that has led to the recent primary election defeats of longtime Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Trey Grayson, who had been backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Kentucky GOP Senate primary.
Maes, who has never held elected office before, received just a handful of votes more than McInnis. He criticized his own party as he addressed Republican activists.
“You keep telling the machine that this is about the people, not the politicians,” Maes told cheering activists after his win was announced.
Though Bennet and McInnis are still expected to make Aug. 10 primary ballots, each holds wide fundraising advantages and has been considered the favorite in their races.
Former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton also enjoys a large financial advantage over Weld County prosecutor Ken Buck in the GOP Senate race. But Norton didn’t participate in Saturday’s assembly and will petition onto primary ballots.
Romanoff, the former state House Speaker, got 60 percent of the Democratic delegate votes Saturday, while Bennet got 40 percent, enough to also earn a place on primary ballots.
Romanoff, who also trumped Bennet in Democratic caucus primaries in March, told delegates he would support Bennet if he wins the nomination.
But he said Bennet wasn’t entitled to the seat just because he is an incumbent. Bennet had gathered petitions in case he failed to make the primary ballots Saturday.
“This Senate seat doesn’t belong to him any more than it belongs to me. It belongs to the people of Colorado, it belongs to you,” Romanoff told hundreds of cheering delegates.
Meeting with reporters afterward, Romanoff said the fact that Bennet had President Barack Obama’s backing was irrelevant and he doesn’t hold it against the president.
“I respect the president, I campaigned for him, but this decision gets made by the people of Colorado,” Romanoff said.
Bennet refused to meet with reporters after his speech, citing “schedule conflicts.”
The state assemblies are just one step in a what can be a long convoluted process in Colorado to get elected. And not winning top ballot billing in Colorado party assemblies doesn’t necessarily signify that a candidate’s campaign is doomed.
In 2004, Colorado Springs Schools Superintendent Mike Miles got top billing over then-U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Ken Salazar, but Salazar was elected senator in November. Salazar is now U.S. interior secretary.
Adding to the confusion, both parties have different systems to get on the ballot. While Democrats can participate in the assemblies and get signatures at the same time, Republicans have to pick one process or the other. Either way, they need 1,500 signatures from each congressional district by May 27.
The only front-runner to cruise to victory Saturday was Democratic gubernatorial candidate John Hickenlooper. The Denver mayor had no opposition in the Democratic contest to replace Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, who is not seeking re-election.
Hickenlooper accepted the Democratic nomination with a quirky speech, wearing jacket with a zebra lapel to poke fun at a negative television ad that compares him to Ritter, calling the politicians of the same stripe.
The Denver mayor—who rode to success in his mayoral campaign attacking Denver’s hated parking meters—promised to be a politician of “a different stripe.”
———
Wyatt reported from Loveland, Colo.
