Bob Beauprez turns in signatures, believes he will be on GOP ballot for governor

Gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez turned in his petition signatures this morning to the secretary of state. (Provided by Beauprez campaign)

Former Congressman Bob Beauprez believes he pulled off what most folks thought was impossible: collecting enough voter signatures in less than a month to make the Republican primary ballot for governor.

The signatures still must be verified by the secretary of state, but Beauprez’s campaign today submitted what it said were around 22,300 petition signatures. He needs 1,500 valid signatures from GOP voters in each of the state’s seven congressional districts.

“It’s clear there’s a lot of people in Colorado who love Bob, because we had volunteers showing up everywhere,” said Dustin Olson, Beauprez’s campaign manager. “The volunteer effort really was the backbone of being able to submit our signatures … .”

Monday was the deadline for all candidates who are petitioning onto the ballot to submit them to the secretary of state’s office.

| March 31, 2014, 7:53 am

Republican Bob Beauprez to submit signatures today in gubernatorial bid

GOP gubernatorial hopefuls at a Club 20 candidate forum in April 2006. z(Ed Kosmicki/Special to the Denver Post)

GOP gubernatorial hopefuls at a Club 20 candidate forum in April 2006. (Ed Kosmicki/Special to the Denver Post)

Former Congressman Bob Beauprez, who is running for governor, supposedly paid a pretty penny to collect the ballot signatures he is turning into the secretary of state’s office at 8 this morning.

Most politicos agree if he didn’t collect enough signatures it will be embarrassing — and not just because of the money spent but because of the historical precedent.

Beauprez, one of seven Republicans looking to unseat Democrat John Hickenlooper in November, also ran for governor in 2006. He got on the ballot through the assembly process, but his GOP gubernatorial rival Marc Holtzman just missed. Holtzman fans believed some underhanded goings-on at the state assembly accounted for his failure to get at least 30 percent of the delegate vote — he got 27.8 percent.

Holtzman already was collecting signatures as a backup. In fact, before the assembly Beauprez wrote him a letter asking him to give up his petitions and to accept the will of the delegates. (Of course with two candidates, it was expected both could go through the assembly and get on the ballot. With seven, it’s another story.)

| March 30, 2014, 9:33 pm

Bentley Rayburn to challenge Rep. Doug Lamborn again in Colorado’s 5th District

U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn is going to have competition at the 5th Congressional District GOP assembly from a familiar foe, Bentley Rayburn, a retired major-general in the Air Force.

Bentley Rayburn

Rayburn ran in 2006 when the seat held by retiring Congressman Joel Hefley attracted a slew of Republican candidates. He came in third. Lamborn took first and won in November in the conservative district. The same thing happened when Rayburn and Lamborn ran again in 2008 for the El Paso County-based congressional seat.

“It’s a free country,” Lamborn told The Denver Post tonight when asked about Rayburn’s late decision to enter the race. “But I feel very good about things.”

Rayburn invited delegates and alternates to his home today and through the week to discuss why he plans to challenge Lamborn, a former state senator and an attorney.

“Please, please come to what will be one of the most important political meetings of this election season,” Rayburn wrote.

| March 30, 2014, 7:05 pm

Gov. John Hickenlooper doesn’t want his ads to scare the poop out of you

Gov. John Hickenlooper, who has famously taken on a parking-meter attendant, jumped out of an airplane and showered with his clothes on as part of campaign ads, pledged once again to forsake negative ads.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, skydiving in a TV ad promoting Refs C and D, in 2005.

That got him applause when he addressed the Denver Democratic assembly on Saturday at North High School. Hickenlooper, who is seeking a second term, predicted a record amount of money will be spent in Colorado this year attacking various candidates.

He told a joke about three sharks circling overturned boaters. They circle once, their fins low in the water, circle one one more time, their fins higher and the boaters screaming and then they dine. When the baby shark asked why they circled twice, the mother shark explained.

“Human beings are the most scrumptious delicacy in the seven seas, but they’re even better if you get all the poop out of them,” Hickenlooper said, as the delegates exploded in laughter. “That’s what attack ads are trying to do. They’re trying to scare the poop out of us.”

| March 30, 2014, 12:39 pm

Sen. Mark Udall rips Rep. Cory Gardner over personhood

Sen. Mark Udall fires up the faithful at the Denver Democratic Assembly Saturday, criticizing his Republican opponent, Cory Gardner, over personhood. (Brendan Loy, Special to the Denver Post)

When Republican Congressman Cory Gardner switched his position on “personhood,” he noted that his rival Sen. Mark Udall had changed his position on gay marriage.

Trying to link the two was ludicrous, Udall made clear during an interview with The Denver Post before the Denver Democratic assembly on Saturday.

“There was no comparison,” Udall said. “I’ve spent my entire political career pushing for more inclusion, more rights for the gay community. He spent years trying to criminalize abortion, supporting personhood. It just doesn’t stand up to comparison.”

| March 29, 2014, 10:53 pm

Two Democrats vie for seat held by term-limited Speaker Mark Ferrandino of Denver

AN APOLOGY: Several times during this blog, I referred to Owen Perkins as Owens, which I have to say must be the lasting influence of former Gov. Bill Owens.

Owen Perkins, a Democrat running in House District 2 in Denver, set up next to his rival, Alec Garnett, at the Denver Democrat assembly in Denver on Saturday. (Photo by Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

Democrat Alec Garnett, a candidate in for a state House seat, passed out doughnuts and other treats at the Denver Democratic assembly Saturday at North High School. (Photo by Lynn Bartels, The Denver Post)

The only hotly contested race today at the Denver County Democratic assembly was the contest to succeed outgoing Speaker Mark Ferrandino, who is term limited.

Alec Garnett and Owen Perkins are running for Ferrandino’s seat. The other Denver Democrats running for the House are uncontested in their primaries.

Garnett, former executive director of the Colorado Democratic Party and son of Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett, received top line, capturing 61 percent of the delegate vote.

Dozens of fans wearing gray Garnett T-shirts showed up at North High School for the assembly. Many of them appeared to be around the same age as the 31-year-old Garnett.

“I’m really excited about how many young people are at their first assembly. We’ve really tried to change the demographics of the caucus-going Denver delegate,” Garnett said. “The Democrats have to continue to engage the young voter in order to be successful in keeping Colorado blue.”

| March 28, 2014, 6:28 pm

Denver’s swag for RNC bid included beer, of course

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez and his wife Claudia along with other Coloradans sing the national anthem as the Republican National Convention convened in Tampa in 2012. (Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post)

Lotions and mints from Dallas-based luxury retailer Neiman Marcus. Samples of the signature Cincinnati ice cream Graeter’s. Salsa made near Phoenix by the late Sen. Barry Goldwater’s family.

And, from Denver, hard-to-get beer made by the state’s most recognizable brand. (Apologies to all the microbrewers out there.)

Those are among the freebies that national Republican Party leaders have received during the bid season as eight cities vie for hosting rights for the party’s 2016 Republican National Convention. Bid organizers got creative with the signature items they schlepped to Washington, D.C., in recent months, the Dallas Morning News reported Thursday. But let’s be honest: When your two best-known hallmarks of the moment are sports and beer, what are you going to do?

If you’re Denver’s delegation, that’s easy: “Denver passed out souvenirs from its sports teams and beer,” the Dallas paper said. “Since Coors’ ‘Colorado Native Beer’ is available only in Colorado, the brewer drove it 1,500 miles to Washington.” The paper notes that Pete Coors is chairman of Denver’s RNC bid.

Denver and several other cities made their presentations in early March, while the rest followed suit last week. The Republican Party is expected to select the host city for 2016 later this year.

Categories: Republican National Convention

| March 28, 2014, 12:09 pm

GOP legend Norma Anderson supports former Congressman Tom Tancredo for governor

Sen. Norma Anderson on the opening day of the 2005 session. (The Denver Post)

Former lawmaker Norma Anderson, known for wielding clout during her days at the legislature, said today if former Congressman Tom Tancredo makes the ballot for governor, she’s voting for him in the June 24 primary.

“Right now Tom is the best candidate,” she said, referring to the seven-person field of GOP hopefuls who want to unseat Democrat John Hickenlooper in November.

Candidate Tom Tancredo feeds the meter before dropping off petition signatures. (Provided by Tancredo)

I joined Team Tancredo’s party last night after they celebrated his feat of being the first Republican to turn in signatures to the secretary of state’s office to try to make the ballot. When Tancredo mentioned Anderson was a supporter, I was incredulous.

Conservative Republicans over the years have called her a “squish” or a “RINO,” although they loved it when she helped lead the charge last year to defeat the education tax hike ballot issue, Amendment 66. She often sides with establishment Republicans, and conventional wisdom says she might have backed former Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp or former Congressman Bob Beauprez for governor.

“I surprise a lot of people occasionally,” Anderson said today, laughing.

Anderson, a Lakewood Republican, added she disagrees with Tancredo on immigration, a subject that defined him in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail in 2007.

Categories: 2014 Colorado Governor's Race, Ballot Measures, Colorado History, Colorado Legislature, Colorado Politics, Education, Immigration

| March 28, 2014, 7:17 am

Rep. Cory Gardner is praised by — Planned Parenthood?

A press release that might surprise some people.

Congressman Cory Gardner is under attack these days for his “fringe anti-woman record” so a news release from Planned Parenthood praising him is a fascinating read.

The issue was the Violence Against Women Act, which the House voted to reauthorize in 2013. Gardner, now a U.S. Senate candidate engaged in a ferocious battle with Democrat Mark Udall, was a “yes” vote.

“Here is the list of the 33 Republican members of Congress who voted against the watered down version of VAWA and then voted for the final inclusive version of VAWA that passed yesterday,” Planned Parenthood wrote. “If you see your member listed here make sure to give their office a call and thank them for supporting VAWA!”

Gardner was one of those 33 Republicans supporting the Senate version of the Violence Against Women Act, which reauthorized the bill and expanded protections for “Native Americans, immigrants and LGBT members across the country.” That’s right, immigrants and gays, other areas where Democrats are critical of Gardner.

| March 27, 2014, 9:26 pm

Mark Udall named 2013 Legislator of the Year by information technology group

Udall at ITI event. (Provided By Information Technology Industry Council)

Democratic Sen. Mark Udall was recognized by the Information Technology Industry Council for his work on tax reform, promoting balanced energy development and fixing issues with the U.S. patent law.

The ITI named Udall 2013 Legislator of the Year. He is one of four members of Congress receiving the award.

Udall said the key to creating jobs and expanding the middle class lies in supporting technological innovation.

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