Sen. Wayne Allard said today he will honor his term-limits pledge and leave at the end of 2008, creating a replacement fight that should turn Colorado into one of the country’s biggest electoral battlegrounds. …
There’s a long list of potential candidates for Allard’s seat, including Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, and various Republicans, such as outgoing Gov. Bill Owens, Tancredo, McInnis and Schaffer.
Someone care to update the wiki page?
P.S. Who might replace Rep. Mark Udall in CO-02? It’s D+8, so I doubt the GOP will contest it too fiercely.
(Via DKos.)
P.P.S. (James L.) Despite previous speculation, it looks like Tom “The Tank” Tancredo is taking his name out of consideration on the Republican side.
Senate President Joan Fitzgerald and State Board of Education Member Jared Polis are the top candidates. Fitzgerald also heads the DLCC and Polis is one of the wealthy Democrats who has bankrolled Democratic 527s the past 4 years. He will self finance. Fitzgerald will have labor behind her.
I read that John Elway of Denver Bronco fame was considering running as the GOP candidate. Could that be true? We can hang it up if it is true.
John Elway is no Lynn Swann…….Pennsylvania has two NFL teams who are bitter rivals. Swann played for one which meant that he was not a favorite of those in the Philadelphia. Denver is THE team for all of Colorado.
I lived in Denver until last September, and I can’t recall hearing anything about Elway having any political ambitions. I’m not sure if he even lives in the 2nd, though it’s possible. I still wouldn’t throw in the towel if he did run. For every Heath Shuler, there’s not only a Lynn Swann, but a Tom Osborne and a Richard Petty as well.
John Elway would make for a potentially formidable opponent. He has long been tied to the Colorado Republican Party and has campaigned for many of their nominees. He does have a few political chits to call in if he were to run. And he has ties to the ultra wealthy community in Colorado as well.
Besides, if the GOP primary devolves into brass knuckle warfare a non-career politician might slip through a primary.
The only reason that Russ Feingold is a US Senator today is that a millionaire businessman and then Congressman Jim Moody threw so much mud at one another that the Wisconsin electorate said a pox on both your houses and voted for Feingold who ran third in most polls during nearly the entire election.
Elway could benefit from such a senario in Colorado. The Colorado GOP is in turmoil and there is no one to chid them into running respectful civilized campaigns afterall. Thou shall not speak ill of another Republican is not exactly the norm in Colorado GOP politics these days. And John Elway would not need to tear down anyone else to build himself up, nearly everyone in Colorado knows who he is before he would even sign his nomination papers.