Posted on 10/15/2010 11:49:21 AM PDT by Chet 99
Is independent Tom Tancredo now becoming the de facto Republican candidate for governor of Colorado? He’s now moved to within four points of Democrat John Hickenlooper to turn the race into a toss-up.
The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Colorado finds Hickenlooper with 42% support, while Tancredo, the candidate of the American Constitution Party, earns 38% of the vote. Support for Republican Dan Maes continues to fall and now stands at 12%. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.
Less than two weeks ago, Tancredo earned 35% of the vote to Hickenlooper’s 43% and Maes’ 16%. That shifted the race from Solid Democrat to Leans Democrat in the Rasmussen Reports Election 2010 Gubernatorial Scorecard. Now the race moves to a Toss-Up.
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
“The CRP needs to get out the word and this is over. They should be held accountable for every vote for Maes.”
They’re going to have to suck it up on the 10% rule, and stage a comeback. It’s not the worst thing - they can regroup and support Conservative Is till that happens (not sure of all the ramifications, but I’m sure people posting her from CO will know/post more.)
Looks like Maes is the Charlie Crist of Colorado.
Tancredo was a ‘Tea Partier’ BEFORE there was a Tea Party! He is one of the catalysts that brought forth the Tea Party.
It’s not August anymore and it sure was chilly this morning down here. :)
Tanc moving up and now a new poll shows O’Donnell only 11 behind!! Gonna be fun!
LOL. Can you imagine?
This would be an important Governorship to have in the redistricting war.
And Tancredo would be a great governor.
If it were me, I'd offer some sort of plebiscite within the Republican ranks with Constitution Party officers on the ballot were they willing. Thence by merger, they'd be back on the ballot. Whaddya think?
Some people are going to lose their jobs. But that should happen anyway.
Hickenlooper? Seriously? That guy must have been a case study for bullying in middle school.
Maes is a putz. He should drop out.
This is great news. Never thought it would be possible after the debacle of the primary. It was tough to walk into the voting booth with the two choices we had. I can’t believe there is actually hope. Tancredo has run a masterful campaign.
If Maes pulls enough votes from Tancredo so that Colorado ends up with a Governor Hickenlooper, he's FAR worse than a putz.
John Elway, where are you?
This is great news but I thought third parties couldn’t win? Oh I know they only can’t win when they are up against big liberal Republicans. Glad Tom is ahead. I always thought he deserved more credit than he’s gotten. He’s be beating the drum on illegal immigration & constitutional issues. Maes should drop out. Where are all those who said he couldn’t win? Is that crickets I hear? Damn I hate unprincipled small c conservatives who let themselves be used and discouraged from voting on principles just so they can ‘win’.
1-5-404. Arrangement of names on ballots for partisan elections.They assume only two "major political parties"...!?! Note, however, that the definition of "major political party" doesn't preclude there being more than two. But in any case, if the GOP drops below 10%, it's no longer on of them...
(1) In all partisan elections, the names of all candidates and joint candidates who have been duly nominated for office shall be arranged on the ballot under the designation of the office in three groups as follows:
(a) The names of the candidates of the two major political parties shall be placed on the general election ballot in an order established by lot and shall comprise the first group; except that the joint candidates for president and vice president and the joint candidates for governor and lieutenant governor shall be arranged in the alphabetical order of the names of the candidates for president and governor.
(b) [...]
(c) [...]
(22) "Major political party" means any political party that at the last preceding gubernatorial election was represented on the official ballot either by political party candidates or by individual nominees and whose candidate at the last preceding gubernatorial election received at least ten percent of the total gubernatorial votes cast.IANAL, though.
Oops...to be clear, definitions are in Section 1-1-104.
Back then, TEA Party was simply ‘T’ Party. (T stands for Tancrdo)
“Who is Dan Maes exactly? Why hasn’t this person dropped out. How did he get nominated in this first place? I don’t remember him being a Tea Party candidate.”
you get up and go to a job and work. that is your primary means of income. well this is maes’ job. that’s why he doesn’t drop out.
and hugh hewitt calls anyone who supports tancredo a nut.
He might not be able to “drop out” but he could endorse Tom. His future in CO politics is over if he doesn’t.
But Maes could drop out symbolically, even endorse Tancredo, and still remain on the ballot as the R (as per the statue.) The GOP would take it’s lumps in the next 2 elections, and perhaps longer, as Tancredo could run for re-election (maybe as an R or as an I). Rs could caucus with the Tancredo Independents (call it whatever you will) and in 2014 either Tancredo runs as an R (re-establishing them as a major party for 2016) or they have to wait longer.
The real kicker is that the COGOP and multiple candidates in the primary process didn’t see this coming. I will say, it’s hard to predict unforeseen weird circumstances arising out of fairly obscure, obtuse election law.
But now that the future of the state is at risk, they’d best put their party SECOND and the State of Colorado first.
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