Posted on 01/16/2007 3:06:22 AM PST by NapkinUser
DENVER - Sen. Wayne Allard announced Monday that he will not seek a third term next year, ending months of speculation and triggering a frenzied rush to replace him.
Allard, speaking in the rotunda of the Capitol where he began his political career as a state senator in 1983, said that although a large number of Republicans asked him to run again, he never wavered on the two-termlimit vow he made in 1996.
“We didn’t hesitate at ever thinking we weren’t going to keep our pledge,” the 63-year-old said of him- self and his wife, Joan, who stood beside him. “I just feel it is really important that when you make a commitment you carry through on it.”
The decision means the end of a 26-year political career and a shotgun start to what could be another wild race for a statewide Republican nomination.
Former Western Slope Congressman Scott McInnis of Glenwood Springs has all but confirmed that he will run for the open seat. Other Republicans who said Monday that they will take a look at it are former congressmen Bob Beauprez and Bob Schaffer, Attorney General John Suthers and recently retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn.
Allard said Monday that he will not endorse anyone until after a GOP primary, if there is one.
Rep. Mark Udall, the Eldorado Springs Democrat, has said he will run. He said Monday that he will make a formal announcement later, adding: “Today is Senator Allard's day.
A Loveland veterinarian, Allard surprised people first by winning the 4th Congressional District seat in 1990 and then by coming out of a tough Republican primary to win the nomination for the open Senate seat in 1996. He defeated Democrat Tom Strickland to win the seat in 1996 and to keep it in 2002, defying predictions of his defeat both times.
Senator Allard never lost an election, and he always ran as an underdog, said Dick Wadhams, his two-time campaign manager and likely the next Colorado Republican Party chairman.
Among the accomplishments Allard listed Monday while flanked by current and former staff members were: creating Rocky Mountain Arsenal wildlife refuge; changing the federal transportation funding formula to let Denver compete for light-rail money; and visiting all 64 Colorado counties to hear concerns.
Allard said he does not know what he will do after leaving the Senate at the end of 2008.
McInnis, who represented the Western Slope and Pueblo in Congress from 1993 to 2004, has hinted widely that he would run if Allard retired. Although he could not be reached for comment Monday, he got a boost from another Republican congressman Tom Tancredo.
Tancredo is not throwing his hat in the ring, spokesman Carlos Espinosa said, adding that he is encouraging Scott McInnis to run.
Schaffer, a newly elected Colorado Board of Education member who ran for the Senate nomination in a bitter 2004 primary, said he couldn't answer questions yet about whether he will run.
Rayburn, who shocked observers by finishing third in the six-way 5th Congressional District primary four months after moving to the state, said he has been encouraged to run but hasn't made a decision.
A spokesman for Beauprez, who just lost the governor’s race and moved back to his hometown of Lafayette, said he won’t be able to make a decision until he “unpacks a few more boxes.
And Suthers, who has served as attorney general since 2005, said he will concentrate on that job but may consider running for the Senate.
I'll have those serious discussions and make a decision in the next six months, Suthers said.
The Democratic side is likely to be more subdued, as it was when most of the party rallied around now-Sen. Ken Salazar early in 2004. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who had been rumored as a possible Democratic opponent to Udall, said Monday that he will not run.
Being a member of the U.S. Senate is one of the greatest honors an individual could have, but I'm not sure I see it in my future, Hickenlooper said.
It was either U.S. senate or president, looks like Tancredo is running for president.
Also, I can't imagine anything worse than a senator John Hickenlooper. He makes Edward Kennedy look conservative. Hopefully he won't run so there will be no chance, not that his odds of winning would be that big anyways.
Hunter is running for the presidency. There is absolutely nothing Tancredo will bring to the race over and above what Hunter brings.
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