UPDATED: Hillman rules out bid for elective office in 2010

The Republican bench in Colorado got a bit thinner this weekend. Former acting state treasurer and Senate Majority Leader Mark Hillman has decided he won’t run for office next year, Mike Saccone reports Sunday in Political Notebook. “Just wanted to give you a heads up that I’ve begun telling my closest friends and best supporters that I will NOT be running for office in 2010,” Hillman wrote in an e-mail to the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel political reporter.

GOP contenders line up, ‘wait and see’ whether to challenge Bennet in 2010

With Monday’s withdrawal from the Senate race by Attorney General John Suthers, state Republicans lack a clear front-runner to take on newly appointed Democrat Michael Bennet in 2010. Other top GOP prospects have hesitated to enter the race, weighing both their own fortunes and the emerging profile of Bennet, the former Denver Public Schools chief, who lacks a voting record and has never before run for office.

It’s a markedly different tone than state Republicans sounded last month when contenders jostled for the chance to take on an appointed senator.

Suthers drops Senate bid, says he’s staying put as attorney general

Putting the kibosh on speculation he would seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in 2010, Colorado Attorney General John Suthers announced Monday he plans to seek re-election to the state’s top law enforcement office and won’t be seeking higher office next year. “I will not run for the U.S. Senate,” Suthers says in a lengthy statement filled with “soul-searching.”

Peña: ‘I do not wish to be considered’ for U.S. Senate appointment

Former Denver Mayor and Clinton-era Cabinet official Federico Peña on Saturday narrowed the field of possible candidates to replace Sen. Ken Salazar when the Denver Democrat issued a statement withdrawing his name from consideration. Peña hadn’t actively sought the appointment, but his name has been among those discussed as a potential candidate to fill the vacancy created by Salazar’s nomination as secretary of the interior on Wednesday.

DeGette, Fitz-Gerald and Miles insist they’re viable Senate candidates, too

In separate news accounts Thursday, three prominent Colorado Democrats decried a rush to anoint the state’s next senator from among a handful of contenders, who all happen to be men who already hold elected office. Gov. Bill Ritter will appoint a replacement for fellow Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar, who was nominated earlier this week to serve as secretary of the Interior.

Poll: Hickenlooper, Salazar’s brother outperform Salazar against GOP foes

Two of the leading contenders to fill Ken Salazar’s Senate seat perform better against potential Republican opponents than Salazar himself, according to a poll released Friday. “Could Ken Salazar’s move from the Senate to Interior Secretary actually be a good thing for Colorado Democrats?” Public Policy Polling’s Tom Jenson asks, pointing to results that show Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Salazar’s older brother John, who represents the 3rd Congressional District, scoring higher than the sitting senator in hypothetical match-ups with potential GOP candidates in the 2010 election.