2010 Political Campaigns

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

DENVER — Calling remarks made by GOP Senate candidate Ken Buck “ridiculous and demeaning,” the Colorado Senate’s lone Republican woman kicked up the controversy Friday at a press conference to introduce an ad from Jane Norton, Buck’s primary opponent.

By Leslie Jorgensen
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes has often promoted himself as a successful businessman who is capable of turning around dying companies — now, his acumen is being questioned by supporters. Their concerns stem from Maes agreeing to pay a $17,500 penalty for campaign finance reporting violations, tax returns that reveal more years of struggle than success and switching positions on illegal immigration and gun rights.

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

Democratic Senate challenger Andrew Romanoff raised $619,814 in the 2nd Quarter, according to figures obtained by The Colorado Statesman. It’s his best fundraising quarter to date but still leaves him lagging significantly behind the incumbent, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who reported raising almost exactly twice that amount in the quarter ending June 30.

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

The same day Colorado voters started receiving ballots in the mail, television viewers statewide were treated to a one-two punch as U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet and his Democratic primary challenger, Andrew Romanoff, blasted each other for campaign fundraising from special interests and political action committees. The next day, both campaigns stepped up their attacks, each accusing the other of spreading “factually inaccurate” information as the August 10 primary approaches.

By Leslie Jorgensen
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

GLENDALE — Billed as an “evening with a national rising political star” Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, the Lincoln Day dinner sponsored by the Arapahoe County and Denver County Republican parties Friday turned into a soiree in defense of state GOP gubernatorial candidates Scott McInnis and Dan Maes, whose stars were tarnished, at least temporarily, in a storm of negative press coverage.

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

Democratic Senate challenger Andrew Romanoff raised $619,814 in the 2nd Quarter, according to figures obtained by The Colorado Statesman. It’s his best fundraising quarter to date but still leaves him lagging significantly behind the incumbent, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, who reported raising almost exactly twice that amount in the quarter ending June 30.

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

The man who recommended Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis for a $300,000 fellowship to sort out Colorado water issues said it was a “double disappointment” to learn Monday that McInnis stands accused of plagiarizing large sections of the articles he claimed to have written for a nonprofit foundation. And the woman who heads the foundation that funded McInnis said late Monday night that if the allegations against the former congressman prove accurate, she wants him to return the money.

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

Saying charges Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis plagiarized portions of articles he received more than a quarter million dollars to write rendered him unfit for office, Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll on Tuesday called on the former six-term congressman to withdraw from the statewide race.

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

A spokesman for the national Republican Governors Association on Thursday blasted news reports the organization has decided to exit Colorado’s gubernatorial contest in response to speculation former Rep. Scott McInnis might drop out of the race in the wake of a plagiarism scandal.

By Ernest Luning
THE COLORADO STATESMAN

DENVER — A visit to boost the campaign of GOP Senate contender Ken Buck by conservative darling Sen. Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, was engulfed in controversy last week after remarks made at a picnic by former Rep. Tom Tancredo calling President Obama “the greatest threat to the United States today.”