Wayne Allard Expected to Retire

November 27, 2006

Senator Wayne Allard is expected to retire rather than run for re-election in 2008, igniting a potentially crowded primary where at least three candidates are already making their interest known.

Republican sources say that Allard will not run for a third term to the U.S. Senate because of several reasons, most notably his pledge to serve only two terms in the senate and his wife Joan’s dislike of Washington D.C. (the Rocky Mountain News says that Allard’s family will be the key to his decision). But those aren’t the only reasons why Allard is expected to bow out of the 2008 race. Here’s a few more:

Allard had only $120,507 cash on hand at the end of September, which is a miniscule amount of money to have in the bank if you are planning on running for re-election. Two-term senators can raise more money than that with a few phone calls.

The political blog “The Fix” at The Washington Post recently listed Allard’s seat as one of the top senate race to watch in 2008, and if you compare the amount of cash on hand for some of the other incumbents listed, Allard isn’t even in the proverbial ballpark. Take a look at some of the other candidates on the Post’s list:

(As of September 30, 2006)
Allard: $120,507
Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana): $725,184
Norm Coleman (R-Minnesota): $1,782,367
Max Baucus (D-Montana): $1,392,903

Now, take a look at the funds of two other senators who are thought to be considering retirement:

Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi): $350,745
Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico): $264,271

Allard’s financial figures look a lot closer to those of Cochran and Domenici than they do to Landrieu and Coleman.

Already three Republicans are expressing strong interest in running for the seat: Rep. Tom Tancredo (CO-6, Littleton), Attorney General John Suthers, and former Rep. Scott McInnis (CO-3, Glenwood Springs). Of those three, only Tancredo might consider running against Allard in a primary; if other Republicans are making known their interest, the word is getting out about Allard’s impending retirement.

Several Republicans are lining up to run for congress in CO-6. If Tancredo runs for the U.S. Senate, he can’t run again for his congressional seat. A handful of Republican candidates are expressing strong interest in running in CO-6, which means they expect Tancredo to run for the senate…which means Tancredo expects Allard to not run again.

Allard was ranked this year by Time magazine as one of the five worst senators in the entire country, primarily because he doesn’t really do anything worth noting. Allard’s apparent indifference doesn’t lend itself to the belief that he is really passionate about being a senator.

If Allard does not run for re-election, as expected, it would mark the third consecutive statewide race in Colorado where the office at the top of the ticket was wide open.