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Dan Maes has won the GOP nomination to run for governor of Colorado:
DENVER — Entrepreneur Dan Maes cashed in his support from tea party patriot groups to narrowly defeat former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis in Colorado’s GOP gubernatorial primary, sending a message to state Republicans that the movement is a force they must reckon with.
Maes’ victory in Tuesday’s primary came after both he and McInnis sent supporters home as the vote count dragged on. With the count all but complete, Maes led by a 51-49 percent margin.
“This campaign was not conceived in a smoke-filled room of the Brown Palace Hotel. Nor was it conceived by the power brokers in the Republican Party. This campaign began in your backyards,” Maes told supporters before his victory was official. The Brown Palace is a Denver landmark.
McInnis spokesman Sean Duffy cited a bitter campaign in which McInnis faced plagiarism claims for the close contest.
“Obviously he had the equivalent of the kitchen sink and two pianos chucked at him,” Duffy said.
Maes faces Democrat John Hickenlooper, the Denver mayor, and American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo in the general election. Tea party groups made it clear that Tancredo, a former congressman known for his tough stand on illegal immigration, would not get their support when he bolted from the GOP.
Tancredo claimed neither Maes nor McInnis could defeat Hickenlooper, and he’s already aired advertisements assailing Hickenlooper as soft on illegal immigration.
Pat Conroy, a supporter of the 9-12 patriot group from Lafayette, said Maes’ showing was a tribute to the tea party movement.
“What us tea partiers would like is a little respect. We are the masses,” Conroy said.
Maes, an Evergreen businessman and political novice, worked tea party and conservative groups hard for months. His effort bore fruit when he edged McInnis for top billing at the state Republican assembly in May.
Maes said tea party core values of limited government, fiscal responsibility, free enterprise, religious freedom, the value of life, family values and freedom of education fit like a glove with his own.
“My campaign and the birth of the party happened simultaneously,” he said.
bubba11 // Aug 11, 2010 at 11:54 am
This is the candidate who thinks that the bike-sharing program in Denver is a United Nations conspiracy. I certainly hope, for the freedom of all bike riders, that this man doesn’t win.
forgetn // Aug 11, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I guess that Ms. Angle and Mr. Paul will welcome the company…
Speaking of funny on the square in front of our office today a Lyndon Larouche stand was set up. Another bunch of crazies — unfortunately they don’t get nearly as much airtime as the Tea Party.
Its a shame, they were most entertaining
ktward // Aug 11, 2010 at 5:24 pm
2010 is shaping up to be possibly the most entertaining midterms ever!
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if we see record-breaking turnouts.
And media coverage? Three-ring circus time. I’m stocking up on both popcorn and Advil. (I’m in IL. Advil is a daily vitamin, but I may need to increase my dosage.)
Logistically speaking, I get why the, er, ‘unconventional’ TeaP-backed candidates might win their GOP primaries. One thing’s for certain: there are no more Scott Browns muddying up TeaP’s mix. (That no-good traitorous ingrate.) TeaP is now much more discriminating when it comes to doling out their endorsements/support.
So, yeah.
Let’s see how ‘UN Cyclist Conspiracy’ Maes does against Denver’s mayor in the GE.
p.s. Tancredo slid over to the Constitution Party? I had no idea. There’s little air between the Con Party and TeaPers, so CO Gov election will be high on my list of most entertaining races to watch.
p.p.s. Says Maes, “My campaign and the birth of the party happened simultaneously …”
It’s official, then? Tea is an honest-to-goodness Party now, vs. a ‘movement’? (I’m thinking Maes should know, right?) That said, I assume that, at present, TeaP’s flying their colors under the auspices of the GOP flag as a matter of midterm expediency, and might indeed fly the GOP nest soon after.
Good news for a sane GOP that wishes to rebuild and re-legitimatize itself.
ktward // Aug 11, 2010 at 5:52 pm
forgetn: Lyndon Larouche … [a]nother bunch of crazies — unfortunately they don’t get nearly as much airtime as the Tea Party.
Larouche is ancient news. Sheesh, how long have those crazies been around? Three decades-ish? And yet, despite their very best efforts otherwise, they never viably influenced the Dem Party or its policies.
OTOH, TeaP is altogether new stuff. Even more fascinating, TeaP seems to be completely directing the GOP machine and its policies. That’s seriously new stuff.
How many 2010 Dem Party candidates are Larouche-associated?
How many 2010 GOP Party candidates are TeaP-associated?
The answers to the above tell you why virtually no one’s the least bit interested in old Larouche idiocy, and why virtually everyone’s interested in recent new TeaP idiocy.