DENVER—Andrew Romanoff insisted Thursday that he had made up his mind to challenge Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet before the White House called talking about the prospects for a job if he didn’t run.
Romanoff is struggling to keep his outsider campaign going despite being dogged by reporters after he confirmed that White House officials contacted him to talk about job prospects just before he announced a challenge to Bennet, who has President Barack Obama’s endorsement.
On a campaign swing in Denver Thursday, Romanoff repeatedly said that the call from an Obama aide played no role in his decision to challenge Bennet. But the former speaker of the Colorado House wouldn’t answer a question about whether he thought the White House tried to keep him out of the race.
“Look, I’m running for this office because I believe I’m the best candidate,” he said at a campaign stop.
Romanoff said he decided to run for the seat in late August 2009. Sometime the following month—before he announced his candidacy—Romanoff said he got a call from White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina. Romanoff said he immediately turned down the prospect.
“He informed me that the White House would support Sen. Bennet. I informed him that I had a made a decision to run for the U.S. Senate. He suggested three positions that might be available to me were I not pursuing the Senate race. He e-mailed me descriptions of those positions. I informed him that I would not change course. At no point was I promised a job,” Romanoff said.
Romanoff confirmed that he had applied for a job in the new administration in January 2009.
Romanoff kept mum about the job discussions until Wednesday, when White House officials confirmed them. Romanoff’s conversations had been reported by The Denver Post last year, but Romanoff said he refused to confirm the talks until Wednesday because he didn’t want to “politicize” them and said he still doesn’t.
Romanoff wouldn’t say whether he would take an administration job if he loses the Aug. 10 primary.
A Bennet spokesman said Thursday that Bennet didn’t seek the White House’s help in avoiding the Romanoff challenge by dangling possible jobs. The spokesman, Trevor Kincaid, said it was “common knowledge,” though, that Romanoff was looking for work in the administration or in Colorado.
Romanoff’s job talks raised national concerns just days after the Obama administration acknowledged it approached Pennsylvania Senate candidate Joe Sestak about backing out of a Democratic primary in favor of an unpaid position on a federal advisory board. Sestak went on to defeat Sen. Arlen Specter in the primary.
Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele accused the White House of offering a “quid pro quo” to Romanoff.
Federal law draws “a very bright line” that makes it illegal to offer a taxpayer-funded job in exchange for any kind of action, Steele said on KRAI-AM radio in Craig. “It’s clear the administration has not just gone up to that line but crossed over,” he said.
Steele depicted the White House-Romanoff discussions as close to a concrete offer.
“Clearly there is a quid pro quo process that was put in place by the West Wing of the White House, orchestrated and implemented by Rahm Emanuel,” he said of Obama’s chief of staff.
Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, told KRAI that the Justice Department should investigate.
“I think that the revelation by Andrew Romanoff yesterday proves that the White House tried to buy Romanoff off, that they tried to bribe him into not running against Michael Bennet for the U.S. Senate,” Wadhams said.
Romanoff resisted criticizing his own party, even when asked directly whether the White House was meddling in the race. Some Democrats on the campaign trip, though, weren’t so gracious.
One Democratic voter, David Thompson, approached Romanoff outside a Denver arts foundation and offered condolences for missing the Senate appointment in the first place and now having to answer questions about seeking other jobs.
“This all reminds me of when I used to work at a grocery store, you know, I was doing all the work but kept getting passed over,” Thompson said. “I feel that you’ve really paid your dues, man, and all that they’ve done to you? It’s not right.”
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Associated Press Writer Dan Elliott contributed to this report.
