Tag: Mark Hillman

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.

State GOP chairman Dick Wadhams sits down and opens up on a wide range of political topics in an illuminating interview with The Colorado Statesman editor Jody Hope Strogoff and reporter Jason Kosena, who was The Colorado Independent's chief political reporter through the 2008 election. Unlike his ubiquitous -- sometimes vulgar -- sound bites issued during the heat of the campaign, Wadhams sounds positively relaxed and introspective as he discusses the future of the Republican Party in Colorado, prospects for retaking the legislature and statewide seats, and even whether Marilyn Musgrave should have called to concede to Betsy Markey after losing her 4th District seat in Congress (short answer: yes).

Former PolitickerCO.com reporter Jeremy Pelzer -- whose daily postings on the now-defunct site were must-reads for Colorado's politically attuned -- lands this week at Elevated Voices, 5280's everything-to-know-about-Denver blog. Monday's posting examines potential challengers to Rep. Betsy Markey, who unseated three-term Republican Marilyn Musgrave and became the first Democrat to represent the sprawling 4th Congressional District in more than three decades.

The two candidates for Republican National Committee chairman endorsed by Colorado RNC members are vying for last place after three rounds of balloting, Dave Weigel reports on our sister site The Washington Independent. Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams has publicly backed Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis and RNC committeeman Mark Hillman threw in with former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, but the rest of the RNC seem to be favoring the other three candidates for the top party post.

The battle for the future of the Republican Party is underway in Washington, D.C., where the Republican National Committee is gathering this weekend to elect a chairman (all the candidates are men). Follow the action with David Weigel's live coverage at our sister site The Washington Independent. Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams this week endorsed Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis, who was nominated moments ago for the national top spot. Here's the case Wadhams makes:

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.

Uh-oh. If Gov. Bill Ritter actually invites Scott Gessler for a Colorado secretary of state tryout, he's gonna have some ‘splainin’ to do — what with the major rule being no one is supposed to embarrass the governor and the Republican attorney already called some of Ritter’s big-dollar supporters Maoists.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of "Kernels of Truth," where I will attempt to disseminate the political news and gossip of Colorado. Much of...

It's an avalanche of pastoral-hued policy web sites! Not to be outdone by the recent roll out of ex-Congressman Bob Beauprez's Line of Sight...

UPDATE: The Rocky Mountain News has called the race for Secretary of State. Republican Mike Coffman has defeated Democrat Ken Gordon. Two races that were...