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August 11, 2005
The CDP is not "shopping" for a new candidate...
The AP now has a full story out on the wire tonight about Rutt Bridges' withdrawal from the race. I'm already hearing a lot of concern about one portion of the story:
Joelle Martinez, spokeswoman for the state Democratic Party, said the party is shopping for another candidate to run against Ritter."I think we realize the importance of finding good candidates for the governor's race. We are definitely going to be on a mission to find some candidates to run," she said.
The news that the party was looking for another candidate stunned Ritter, who said "that decision is up to them."
Joelle, who has been doing a fantastic job as our Communications Director, issued a statement tonight which I think clarifies her comments much better:
It has been reported that the Colorado Democratic Party is seeking candidates to run against Democratic candidate Bill Ritter. This is simply not true. The Colorado Democratic Party does acknowledge that it is early in the campaign and other Democratic candidates may enter the race. It is the role of the Democratic Party to engage in conversation with all individuals who decide to run for office.“I regret any misunderstanding that may have occurred from my earlier remarks. I simply commented that the Democratic Party acknowledges the importance of finding good Democratic candidates and will be talking with other individuals who may be interested in running,” said Joelle Martinez, Communications Director for the Colorado Democratic Party.
I'm in Aspen / Snowmass this week for both the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association Convention and the Democratic Governors' Association events. Pat Waak is also here, and we had some time tonight to discuss the recent events.
I want to assure everybody out there that the officers of this Party are committed to staying neutral on the Governor's race. We are cognizant of the problems created in the past when state party officials were seen as taking a more active role in recruiting candidates in races where worthy candidates already had declared their intentions. We have no plans to make that same mistake in 2006.
Bill Ritter is an excellent candidate and would make an excellent Governor. So would a number of other people who have been considering a run or who have been mentioned as possible contenders for Governor. I want to be clear that we officers view our job as that of ensuring that every candidate gets a fair shake, and that the State Party remains a neutral body as we go forward in our nominating process. Any statement to the contrary, and any interpretation of any statement to the contrary, is simply not State Party policy or position. Period.
Posted by dslater at August 11, 2005 09:04 PM
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Comments
I for one have no problem wiht the party seeking other candidates for the Governor's race. Given Ritter's views on several subkects it will be very difficult to separate him from Beauprez in a general election. This bodes badly for the Dems. The only way we have of defeating a popular GOP candidate is to offer a distinctly different person as an alternative.
The top 3 on my wish list are (in no particular order) Joan Fitz-Gerald, John Hickenlooper, and Andrew Romanoff. I think any one of these three would be a great candidate and would probably easily win a primary against Bill Ritter.
Posted by: Dan Willis at August 12, 2005 01:19 PM