Pollster Forecasts Tancredo Win For Colo. Governor, GOP Retake Of Both State House And Senate

The Businessword’s Don Johnson reports that David Flaherty, the president and CEO of  Magellan, a Republican leaning poll with excellent turnout models,  predicts Tom Tancredo will beat Denver Dem Mayor John Hickenlooper in Tuesday’s Colorado governor’s race.   Flaherty also predicts Republicans will take both the state House of Representatives and the state Senate.

Other polls show Tancredo trailing in everything from tight contests to a dubious CNN outlier that gives the hard left Hick a double-digit lead.

So why does Magellan think Tancredo will win?  According to  Don Johnson’s interview with Flaherty:

Flaherty said polls that show John Hickenlooper winning the gubernatorial race are using demographics and turnout numbers that incorrectly skew their results in favor of Democrats.

“I do believe that Tom Tancredo is going to win,” Flaherty declared. In recent polls, Tancredo has about 73% of Republican voters. Flaherty thinks Tancredo will wind up with over 80% of Republicans. It will be in the low 80s, he said.

Tancredo is benefiting from Dan Maes’ decision to stay in the race, Flaherty said. Because Maes stayed in the race, Hickenlooper and the Democrats figured that Tancredo and Maes would split the conservatives’ and unaffiliated voters’ and that they didn’t have anything to worry about. If Maes had dropped out, as Tancredo and Republican leaders asked him to, the Democrats would have attacked Tancredo, he said.

Now that Tancredo is poised to win, Flaherty said, it’s too late for the Democrats to attack Tancredo.

The excellent post at Businessword has lots more details on these races, as well as the attorney general contest.

TIM LEONARD WINS SD 16 WITH 71%- KEEPS DA MARK HURLBERT OFF BALLOT-Live Blogging From Dist. Assembly: Multi-County House and Senate; Cong. Districts 2,3,4,5 and 6

Live blogging.  Tim Leonard takes 71% of Assembly vote; ousts  prosecutor, Mark Hurlbert from Gop Ballot.

Tim Leonard Supporters Celebrate (Photo-Lynn Bartels, Denver Post)

Ex-Pat Ex-Lawyer will be live blogging from reports received from people attending the District Assembly today.  We’ll do a separate, live-blog post for the State Assembly tomorrow.

Please Email in any Reports and pictures to Lauraincabo@gmail.com or Leave Comments -You can also Tweet me @ ExPatExLawyer

Schedule:  9:-10 – GOP State Central Committee Mtg.

10:00 – Multi Dist.House Assemblies.  HD 13, HD 33, HD 40, HD 56, HD 60, HD 61, HD 62, HD 63, HD 65.

11:30 – Multi-County Senate Dist. Assemblies – The big contested race here is Senate District 16, an open seat as popular Dem incumbent Dan Gibbs is not seeking re-election. Tim Leonard dominated DA Mark Hurlbert in fundraising and just won (1:00 p.m.) with 71%, keeps “moderate” mountain bike prosecutor off ballot .  Other Senate Districts are SD1, SD2. and SD5.  SD 5 presents delegates with Republicans  Bob Rankin and Wayne Wolf battling it out to challenge Dem incumbent Gail Schwartz.  Degrow calls this one a toss-up, with a slight edge for a Dem hold. Update: Greg Brophy reports Rankin takes sole ballot spot with 82% of delegate votes.

Ben has this to say about SD 2:

A field of three Republicans — Kevin Grantham, Matt Heimerich and Talon Canterbury — has lined up to fill the shoes of the GOP’s retiring state senator Ken Kester. Right now, any of them looks like better odds than the two late-entry Democrats Gloria Stultz and John Webb, neither of whom has reported raising a dime. Likely GOP hold

1:00 – Multi County House Dist. 47 and 64 Assemblies – Republican candidates in these two races have no primary opponents.  In 47 Keith Swerdfeger has two Dem opponents.  The seat is currently Dem, but Ben Degrow calls it leaning GOP pickup.  In Dist. 64, Lisa Grace Kellog takes on incumbent Dem.  Wes McKinley. Ben calls this leans Dem hold.

2:00 – Cong. Dist. 2,3,4 and 5 Assemblies – The 4th Dist. pits Cory Gardner against Tom Lucero.

3:00- Cong. Dist. 6 Assembly

UPDATE – 11:00 a.m. Marty Neilson, CUT President and GOP SD 16 Chair –says she hasn’t seen this much enthusiasm among Colorado Republicans since the 1980s!  Wow!

Sen. Greg Brophy reports that in HD 63,  Jon Becker wonn the nomination with enough delegate votes to keep the others off the ballot.

Lynn Bartels reports as if she too has never seen this many Republicans in one place:

The hotel hallways in outside the meeting rooms are so packed it’s difficult to walk along and check out candidate tables. Think Target the day after Thanksgiving.

UPDATE 11:35 a.m:  Reclaim the Blue’s Al Maurer –says it’s a “zoo.” Al just found a place to sit down and type:

I didn’t expect to see a whole lot going on at the District Assembly today in Loveland. Boy, was I wrong. The state races are not until tomorrow but all the candidates are here today with tables, signs and supporters in campaign t-shirts. I have a Dan Maes t-shirt in my bag–I’m not really a t-shirt kind of guy–and am sporting my People’s Press Collective “credentials.”

I just mat a lady from Elbert County who said this is the first time in her life when she’s met in person all the people she can vote for. What an awesome testament to the level of political activity this year.

There are also some conservative organizations present, such as the Rocky mountain Gun Owners who have recently won the right for concealed carry on Colorado campuses.

We’re also spreading The Constitutionalist Today to people from throughout the state. There is a tremendous hunger for information  that the established media are not filling. I saw one guy with a big, professional-looking video camera walking past with Dick Wadhams, but other than that I haven’t seen them in evidence. I’ve got my flip cam, though.

Gotta love those comments about the cumbersome, old-school MSM.  That’s why I call Lynn Bartels a blogger.  Bloggers are agile and resourceful.

UPDATE: Al Maurer previously tweeted that Ali Hasan has four golf carts on hand to shuttle people around.  Al observes, “nice gesture, but where’s all his money coming from.”  I would assume it’s from the usual place, mommy and daddy.

Sen. Greg Brophy – won with 100 percent and en route to re-election in November.

Greg Brophy Tweets: “Superstar Senate candidate Bob Rankin w/ 82% at assembly on to wipe out Gayle Schwartz in SD5.”

Al Maurer – Says crowd and grassroots participation is extraordinary.  Lots of new faces.  He mentioned a brand new tea party organizer that just started up an Elbert County tea party group.  She told Al they had 41 attendees at the first meeting, and 250 at the next meeting.

Marty Neilson reports at 1:35 p.m. – Ken Buck has a big presence in Room 502 at Embassy Suites.  She also said Tim Leonard had a huge group of supporters, with lots of volunteers celebrating wildly.  Leonard won the 71% needed to oust Hurlbert by two votes, according to Tim Leonard. Both candidates gave excellent acceptance speeches.  Leonard’s nomination was made by Elena Campbell and seconded by Tom Tancredo. Sen. Al White, nominated Hurlbert. Considered the most liberal member of the GOP, White was an early endorser of Hurlbert, an endorsement quickly scrubbed off Hurlbert’s  Facebook page, as noted in this Hitler video spoof.

Al Maurer reports 1:40 – possible linkage between McInnis and Joe G. gubernatorial campaigns.  Somehow, Joe G. got a copy of the delegate list under the table, a no-no.  Then, delegates were called by the same phone service used by Scott McInnis.  It’s been said it’s to McInnis’ advantage to split the anti-establishment vote between Dan Maes and Joe G. and to have all three make the August primary ballot.  Intriguing.

Lynn Bartels at 2:34 – posts about Tim Leonard’s win over DA Mark Hurlbert.  Hurlbert said he’s not sure if he’ll try to petition on or not.  He and Al White claim he’s the most electable in November.  That’s hard to believe given that in four months of campaigning he only managed to find 9 contributors in the entire district.  Leonard had 89 in the district, and 280 donors total.  Leonard raised more money this past quarter than any other GOP senate candidate.

Ali Hasan and his family contributed about 20% of the $10,200 Hurlbert raised.  Hurlbert accepted

Scott Robinson: Legal expert says Hasan case should "raise eyebrows"

the Hasan money despite having investigated Hasan on possible criminal charges in 2008 – a move that creates an appearance of impropriety and “certainly raises eyebrows,” according to noted Colorado criminal attorney, Scott Robinson.

Al White said he could use Hurlbert’s help in the senate.  No doubt Hurlbert would provide it too.  If elected he would make White the second most liberal GOP member of the senate.  Both men seem to think it’s 2008.  Hurlbert’s record of raising budgets and lobbying to raise his own pay 37.5 percent over two years during the recession, won’t draw fiscal conservatives.

Besides,  Hurlbert’s authoritarian views on medicinal marijuana, and his recent inexplicable felony prosecution of a pair of cheating women mountain bike racers in Leadville,  will hurt him with independents and Democrats.   Seemingly oblivious to public will in the matter, Hurlbert was roundly criticized throughout Colorado, nationally, and even in the Denver Post and Vail Daily editorial pages for this  money wasting prosecutorial overreach that he continues to pursue.

Congressional Races

Greg Brophy – tweets at about CD4 at 3:30p.m. – “Lucero gave the weakest speech I’ve seen; couldn’t have earned a vote for dog catcher with that weak stuff.”  Brophy further reports that Buck’s speech was very well received, and Mcinnis was well received.  Brophy calls Cory Gardner’s speech one of the best he’s ever seen. Called out Prez O big time.

Don Johnson is live blogging CD-4 on his businessword blog. He’s a master at this, with his stacatto, Hemmingwayesque prose, and has all sorts of good quotes. Don agrees with Brophy about Cory Gardner’s speech, saying it’s the “best I’ve heard all year on the campaign trail.”

Al Maurer – Reporting from CD-5 notes, with amusement, that frequent anti-Buck blog commenter, Cheri Offner is sitting in fron row.  Jane Norton is there too -as a delegate, she said “when confronted by an activist unhappy with her choice to petition on.”

4:20 p.m.  A.G. John Suthers just spoke about states’ rights to rousing applause.

Cory Gardner wins CD-4 – 5:30 Greg Brophy reports the votes:  Gardner 359, Lucero 110, Medere 123.  Cory gains sole GOP ballot spot.

On The Campaign Trail – Not at Assembly

Danny Stroud – GOP candidate for Denver’s HD 1 already gained his nomination at the local Assembly.  He reports he’ll ride his Harley tomorrow to the State Assembly, but today he’s campaigning in his district.

Colo. GOP Candidate News of the Day: Buck DA Record Impressive; Perlmutter-Frazier Poll; Ramirez HD 29; Hasan Likely Got Record Sealed, DA Hurlbert Takes Fifth

Colorado U.S. Senate Republican Candidate Ken Buck:  DA Record Fiscally Conservative and Otherwise Exemplary. See excellent post by Don Johnson from his wide-ranging, and detailed two-part interview with Buck.  I’ve previously posted about the admirable transparency and courtesy his office and Weld County had shown me, and about how DA Hurlbert, running for SD 16 against Tim Leonard, had not.

Now that Democrat Boulder DA Stan Garnett is challenging John Suthers for Colorado A.G., I hope both Hurlbert and Gannett will be forthcoming in answering questions about the issues relevant to their candidacies.  Garnett was very nice and got me his budgets ASAP.  I’ll post them under Resources shortly. Hurlbert has not published or turned over his 2009 and 2010 budgets – the most relevant and important ones.  His excuses for same have been inadequate. More later.

Perlmutter and Ryan Frazier poll – Over at Ben Degrow’s blog, with detailed article.  Go there to see exciting results.  Other GOP candidates are good guys, but should in my opinion unite behind Ryan Frazier to oust Perlmutter.

Robert Ramirez, the sole Republican Candidate for House District 29 – just signed the CUT pledge and is one of the most impressive young Republican candidates out there.  He has a great shot at ridding Colorado of one of the most destructive Dems in the House, Debbie Bennefield.  My interview is here.

Ali Hasan, one of three GOP Treasurer Candidates Appears to have obtained a court sealing of his records involving a 2008 incident with Alison Miller – After hours of additional investigation I stand by my post that the answers I received from the court did not exactly square with a record sealing.  I’m giving Hasan the benefit of the doubt, however, on that one.  But Hasan could have made things a lot easier by admitting he sought and obtained a record sealing.  Instead, after showing poor judgment by jumping into a blog comment debate on Ben Degrow’s Mount Virtus, he decided to blab all over the place about his side of the case knowing an independent check on his claims was impossible.  He refused an off-blog request from me to confirm or deny a record sealing.

A record sealing is primarily for an individual  wishing to claim that he never had any charges made against him, or to cease any discussion of same – not for someone whose charges have been all over the media and who wants to discuss his side without the other side being able to refute or even fact-check the sealed record.  A record sealing requires a special motion by the party’s attorney,  and is not part of the natural “order” of things as claimed by Hasan in his postings.

Regardless.  I care far less about that than about his refusal to discuss valid issues about the ideal investment portfolio for Colorado’s money.

Both Hurlbert and Hasan have also still left open the question about Mark Hurlbert’s decision to handle his friend and political supporter’s case himself instead of assigning it to a special prosecutor.  Notably, as Don Johnson pointed out, Hasan claims he didn’t know if Hurlbert was investigating his case or not, though reportedly his mother knew and accurately predicted Hurlbert would exonerate her son.

Even more notable, is Hasan and Hurlbert’s failure to deny that a special prosecutor would have been appropriate.  Call it “investigation,” “evaluation” what have you, Hurlbert had the ball in his court and decided not to file charges, rather than avoiding any appearance of impropriety by passing the case off to a special prosecutor.   Supporting links to all of this are in the embedded article here.

Hurlbert brings in a special prosecutor when his wife, attorney Cathy Cheroutes, handles cases in the Fifth District.  He just calls  in a DA from Glenwood Springs or other neighboring jurisdiction and does not allow even a junior deputy to handle a case where she is the defense attorney.  It’s no big deal, and it’s the right thing to do.  If  I am incorrect about this, I would assume someone would have pointed it out, but no one has.

I’m done with the Hurlbert-Hasan issue.  The state Assembly is a month away and Hurlbert’s barely spoken out about any issues at all.  I’ll be trying to change that by giving him a list of questions, in the same way that Don Johnson did so masterfully with Ken Buck.  Ali Hasan has provided enough material on the issues and his background that voters should be easily able to determine the best candidate in the Treasurer’s race.

Robert Ramirez, Republican Candidate for Colo. House Dist. 29, Latest CUT Pledge Signer, Set to Topple Dem. Bennefield: Interview, Part I

Robert Ramirez, a Westminster business manager, and the unopposed Republican candidate for Colorado House District 29, is the latest candidate to sign the CUT pledge.  The pledge,

Robert Ramirez with wife Suzie and daughter, Lauren

put forth by the Colorado Union of Taxpayers, covers a wide range of free market issues including tax and spending reductions, education reform, and protection of private property rights against governmental takings.

Ramirez has a good shot at beating liberal Democrat incumbent, Debbie Bennefield, by mounting a hard charging, grassroots campaign that’s already garnered about 120 volunteers.  Ramirez skillfully kept  potential primary opponents at bay by convincing them he was the strongest candidate to take on Bennefield, and he got those Republicans to unite behind him. Pretty impressive for a conservative, Republican activist making his first run for elected office.

Why didn’t Ramirez  sign CUT sooner?   The answer is not that Ramirez was weighing the political costs and benefits, or whether he should triangulate as a “moderate.”  I spoke with Ramirez at length, and he’s about as opposite from a triangulator as you could find.  He’d already signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge, and was doing research and asking questions.  At the Tea Party events on April 15, he got his remaining couple of questions answered, and signed the pledge.

Robert Ramirez and Limited Government

I recently enjoyed a wide-ranging  discussion of the issues with Robert Ramirez, and this is Part I of that interview.   He’s extremely intelligent, and passionate about changing the errant course the Democrats have taken Colorado. He’s a staunch free market conservative.  He believes government needs to get out-of-the-way of business, by reducing taxes and burdensome regulations.  Job creation will follow those simple steps, as he knows from his earlier career as a business manager in Texas.  Ramirez also believes this platform will attract the independent voters that make up a large percent of District 29.

I asked Ramirez, what ultimately motivated him to run for the House?  His 11-year old daughter, Lauren.  Lauren it seems is a precocious  fiscal conservative herself, and had just read an inspirational quote from Ronald Reagan.  She showed it to her Dad and told him he could help get the country back on track economically if he became part of the solution by getting elected to office.  The whole family attended the Tea Party events on Taxpayer Day at the Capitol, and “enjoyed” a visit to the golden dome to watch the legislature in action.  His first-person account reads like a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and I urge everyone to read the hilarious adventure on his blog.

Ramirez makes clear he’s not joust mouthing talking points.  He continually cites examples from his experience managing a business that employes over 110 Coloradans.   It was refreshing to talk to a candidate who looks at budgeting and job creation from a private enterprise perspective, instead of a government “revenue shortfall”  perspective.  Ramirez told me that office holders need to recognize that underlying a “revenue shortfall” are hurting working  families who don’t have jobs or who aren’t making as much and thus they are paying less in taxes.

His opponent, however,  doesn’t get this in the least.  She is one of the most extreme liberals in the Colorado House.  Besides her pandering legislative record, one look at her website makes you think you put the wrong search terms into Google and wound up at a local SEIU website instead.

I spoke briefly with Bennefield, and she denied being an extreme liberal.  She said she’d broken with her party several times.  I asked her to give me some examples, but she couldn’t name any off the top of her head.  She also posed the usual liberal false choice:  If  government can’t extract more taxpayer money from the public, they will cut basic services.  I asked her, couldn’t reduction in government employee pay and benefits like PERA be a third solution? She said, “No.”  I asked, “why not”?  At that point she told me she had about 300 emails to read.

Ramirez on being an Hispanic, Identity Politics and Immigration Reform

I also asked Ramirez  about the apparent loss of Hispanic support the Republicans had achieved.  He doesn’t believe there has  been a loss;  rather,  that in Colorado, unaffiliated voters of all demographic groups turned more to the Democrats  in 2006 and 2008.  He thinks his free market, lower taxes platform will bring in the unaffiliated voters this year.  House District 29 has a small percentage of Hispanics, but he recognizes that his Mexican-American heritage will likely appeal to the natural ethnic affinity Hispanic voters would feel towards him.

While Ramirez welcomes Hispanic support, he disdains identity politics.   “When we start putting Hispanics in one category, African-Americans  in a separate category, Caucasians  their own category, we’re resegregating ourselves,”  Ramirez told me.  “We’re losing the gains made by the civil rights movement when people do that.”   Ramirez would prefer we don’t even use group-identity terminology, and that we should all identify as Americans, without the hyphens. Ramirez appreciates that we all have different backgrounds,  but believes our  backgrounds are less important than our common bond as Americans.

He told me some Hispanic activists called him up and asked if the Republican party was “catering” to him as an Hispanic.  He told them and me that he didn’t want the GOP to “cater” to him as an Hispanic.

Ramirez also opposes affirmative action and illegal immigration. He acknowledges that the current system is a bureaucratic nightmare that needs to be rebuilt from the ground up, so that the legalization process is fair and efficient.  Ramirez is opposes to amnesty legislation. He realizes that solving the illegal immigration problem is a complex one for a state legislature, given federal domination of the issue.  I liked the fact that he didn’t play games and act as if the Colorado legislature could single-handedly remedy the obvious problem, as many career politicians like to demagogue on this issue.

Ramirez has a growing number of committed volunteers, many of whom accompanied him to the Jefferson County Assembly on Super Saturday.   Ramirez says his fundraising has gone well, and he anticipates having 200 volunteers in the next 10 days.  His race really deserves state GOP money even though Bennefield is term limited in 2012.  As prominent conservative political writer, Ben Degrow pointed out, “a win in north Jeffco probably would help seal a transfer of power in the Colorado House of Representatives.”

Colo. County Assemblies Put Republican Legislative Talent on Display: Frazier, Leonard, Ramirez, Sharf and Others in Photo Essay – UPDATED 4-12

SD 16 Candidate Tim Leonard with Precocious Two-Year Old Daughter, Isabella

Colorado Republicans held their final county assemblies yesterday, in a day dubbed Super Saturday, because of the large population counties involved, including Jefferson, Denver, Arapahoe, Adams and Boulder.  The state assembly is slated for May 21-22, in Loveland.

Robert Ramirez, a promising young candidate from Westminster set to wrest

Robert Ramirez Supporter Lends Campaign Vehicle: 1958 Chevy

HD 29 from liberal Democrat incumbent Debbie Bennefield, officially received the Republican nomination for the seat, unopposed.  Ramirez  blogged about the exciting day at the Jefferson County Assembly and posted photos, including this clever campaign vehicle.  We’ll be publishing the first part of an interview with Ramirez tomorrow.

Also having a productive day in Jefferson was state Senate District 16 candidate Tim Leonard,  the conservative Republican businessman from Evergreen, who’s already been endorsed by eight of Colorado’s 14 Republican senators.  Lynn Bartels reported, “Two-year-old Isabella Leonard waved a sign that read “Go, Daddy, Go” for her father.”  Goes to show what home schooling can achieve, as Isabella’s sign was spelled perfectly. Buddies in Boulder reported Leonard also had a big presence there,  but his opponent was MIA.

Rising Republican star Ryan Frazier, was out in force (and maybe with

Ryan Frazier with Attorney General John Suthers

special forces too) in  Adams County, and  is charged with the GOP mission of dispatching liberal Democrat Congressman Ed Perlmutter back to civilian life, with extreme prejudice. What a sweet victory that would be for Colorado.  Frazier reported having a great time in Adams County.  He and his beautiful family were all there.  Update: Ben Degrow was there and has an in-depth report, including great new poll numbers for Ryan Frazier.  Don Johnson just reported this morning about some great fundraising news for Frazier.

Lynn Bartels also reported that the brilliant House candidate, Joshua Sharf,

House Candidate and blogger Joshua Sharf

invited unaffiliated types and “thoughtful Democrats” to attend the GOP Assembly in Denver. I’ve always admired  Sharf’s  out of the box thinking. And they behaved themselves and everything. Given the definitional restriction, I wonder what the “thoughtful Democrat” turnout was.

At Businessword.com, Don Johnson ventured into the trenches as usual, this time in Arapahoe County.  Plenty of action there including a rousing speech by Attorney General John Suthers and Clear the Bench Colorado leader, Matt Arnold.

How many days is it until the November election? With the depth and strength of the current GOP Colorado crop, I can’t wait.

Debra Irvine – Colo. Republican House Dist. 56 Candidate: Summit County GOP Chair Takes on Dem. Majority Whip Scanlan

In one of Colorado’s most important House contests, Summit County Republican chair Debra Irvine is challenging liberal Democrat Majority whip Christine Scanlan for Colorado House District 56, and has a good shot at beating her.  House District 56 comprises Summit, Lake and Eagle counties, and includes the ski resorts of Breckenridge and Vail.

Though politically active, Irvine is no career politician–she’s an artist with a diverse career background that includes Defense Department work abroad.  And like the Republican candidate in companion Senate District 16, Evergreen businessman Tim Leonard, she’s signed the CUT pledge, while none of their opponents have.

The CUT pledge serves as a fiscal conservatism litmus test that separates dedicated tax cutters and small government proponents from those RINOs who straddle the economic policy fence, trolling for liberals and voting alongside Democrats for more taxes and spending if elected to office.  I spoke to Debra last week about CUT and other issues, and she came off as thoughtful and knowledgeable about every provision of CUT and supported the pledge without hesitation. The pledge is put out by the Colorado Union of  Taxpayers, and is set forth in its entirety here.

The CUT pledge not only covers taxes and spending, but property rights and education issues as well.  Irvine’s opponent, House Majority whip Christine Scanlan, has led Colorado down a treacherous path on all of these issues.  On the critical CUT issue of eminent domain and property rights, Scanlan recently co-sponsored a bill masquerading as a simple legal clarification measure on rafters who might accidentally hit a rock in a river;  in fact the bill would allow commercial rafting outfitters to disembark, unload their gear and trespass on private property-and not simply in emergencies.

In effect, HB 1188 would provide a free easement to these commercial rafters, and thus a property taking without just compensation against the land owners-violations of both the Colorado and U.S. constitutions.  The bill was expanded to include non-commercial rafters, which is only fair as proponents were doing the bidding of the vocal commercial rafting industry.  But that does nothing to address the serious legal problems in the bill.  The measure barely made it out of the senate judiciary committee, with all Republicans voting against it. Even the Dems have since realized the bill wasn’t fully thought through and deserved more “study.”

Scanlan has also been a teachers union pet, and her pet projects have contributed to Colorado’s financial devastation – policies Irvine opposes.  Irvine instead favors increased educational standards, more parental involvement, and English immersion – a provably more successful approach to teaching English than the ESL favored by the teachers unions.   And linguistics is something Irvine really knows-she is fluent in four languages, including German, Italian and French.

Irvine told me she felt very confident about her chances against Scanlan and that her fundraising was going well.  It’s a tall order for Republicans to retake the house in 2010 (the state Senate seems more likely), but knocking out Scanlan would represent a major victory for Coloradans.  With no Republican primary opponent, Irvine will be able to devote all her energy and funds to fighting Scanlan.

Summit County’s Large Unaffiliated Voters Reduce Caucus Turnout: GOP Vice-Chair Knobel Urges Unaffiliated to Stand Up and Pick a Side – Updated

The Summit Daily’s Rob Allen reports 106 Democrats and 88 Republicans participated in the caucuses in Summit, but with the largest “affiliation” being unaffiliated, turnout could have been better.  Summit Republican vice chair Lisa Knobel laid it on the line:  “Stand up, be a leader, pick a side and go to caucus.”

And Knobel is absolutely correct.  While the caucuses are over, the primary is on August 10, and the unaffiliated can make much more difference with contested elections on the Republican side-for governor and for state Senate.  Even libertarian-leaning liberals would be wise to register Republican for the primary, particularly since marijuana laws are currently the topic of major statehouse debate and Summit County voters approved both decriminalization and dispensary operations by margins exceeding 70 percent.

Also, a large percentage of unaffiliated are fiscal conservatives, and with Hickenlooper taking the Fifth Amendment and refusing to comment on taxes or pretty much anything else until the summer, tea party and independent unaffiliateds would be wise to make their votes count in the Republican primary in August if they have any interest in changing Colorado’s economically unsustainable status quo.  (Note that  “Hickenritter’s” Fifth Amendment ploy is a cheap trick that won’t work with voters with half a brain–his tax and spend tendencies can still be inferred from silence, as Don Johnson at businessword did in a damning summation here).  Update-Hickenlooper spoke later today, criticized Ritter big-time, and Johnson covered every detail.  I blogged about it above and linked to Don’s piece.

Summit had a very high turnout in the 2008 election, with 5,075 Democrats, 4,268 Republicans and 7,268 unaffiliated voters hitting the polls.  The state candidate preference poll for GOP for governor was McInnis 57.95 and  Maes 39.77), close to the statewide tally. But Summit Republicans favored Jane Norton overwhelmingly, 44.19% comppared to  Ken Buck at 29.07%.

Liberal Democrat House Representative Christine Scanlan, who is running against Summit GOP Chair Debra Irvine for House District 56,  gushed “the Democrats are lucky to have two excellent candidates running for U.S. Senate.”  I guess.  If a narrow choice between Left and Lefter, in Appointed Senator Benet and Andrew Romanoff,  is what you call lucky.  It would seem Dems and the public would be better off with some surviving Dem moderates in the state, but they seem to be in hibernation.

Republican Kathleen Conti, Enters Race for Colo. House Dist. 38: Immediately Signs Taxpayer CUT Pledge

Kathleen Conti, a conservative activist Republican businesswoman from Littleton,  just entered the race for Colorado House District 38,  and wasted no time in signing the taxpayer’s CUT pledge at the  Taxpayer Day rally yesterday.  We reprinted the pledge in its entirety here.

Conti, who faces no GOP primary opposition after Rick Gillit dropped out,  will challenge Democrat incumbent, Joe Rice of Littleton.  Conti is a successful small business owner, who has been active in grassroots conservative politics rather than official GOP party activities. Conti has exactly the type of background needed given recent events at the golden dome.   We wish her the best in retaking another winnable seat for Republicans.