Former Gov. BIll Owens
Jeb Bush’s inability to break from the pack of Republican presidential candidate is drawing plenty of attention in Washington. But former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens said Bush is in a “good place right now.”
“He’s well-funded. He has an organization that is strong in many, many states because of himself and his family,” Owens said in an interview Wednesday. “This process has a long way to go.”
Owens endorsed Bush earlier this week and will serve as a campaign co-chairman in Colorado, along with State Treasurer Walker Stapleton.
Both Republicans have strong ties to Bush.
State Treasurer Walker Stapleton
Stapleton is a second cousin (his mother is a first cousin of former President George H.W. Bush).
And Owens’ connections go back decades. He first met then-Congressman George H.W. Bush in 1968 when he served as a page in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1972, as a college student, Owens worked on the congressman’s U.S. Senate campaign, reporting to none other than George W. Bush, the candidate’s son and future president. “I go back with the Bush’s quite a ways,” Owens said.
Owens served as governor from 1999 to 2007 — the same eight years that Jeb Bush was governor in Florida — and got to know Bush personally. “When your friend’s running, I’m going to support him,” Owens said.
Asked about Trump and the wide-open race at the start of the campaign, Owens pointed to past election cycles in which “initial candidates who attract a lot of attention frequently dissipate later under further scrutiny.”
Jeb Bush “doesn’t need to be the front-runner right now — the front-runner is a dangerous place to be.”
Other prominent Republicans who endorsed Bush include former House Speaker Frank McNulty, former House GOP leader Mark Waller, former state GOP Chairman Ryan Call, former state Rep. Keith Swerdfeger, Douglas County school board member Doug Benevento and lobbyist Melissa Kuipers. GOP operative Michael Fortney will serve as a Colorado campaign adviser.
