March 10, 2010 05:05 AM UTC

Gardner misses water vote while campaigning in D.C.

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• by: BobMoore

(How many times can one person make the same stupid mistake in one campaign? Gardner may be trying for a record here. – promoted by Colorado Pols)

State Rep. Cory Gardner, the Republican frontrunner for the 4th Congressional District, missed a vote on a water bill critical to his district Tuesday because he was on a campaign-related trip to Washington, D.C., according to Jessica Fender at the Denver Post.

“Senate Bill 52 nearly died in the House this morning, only to be resurrected at the last minute on a narrow 33-30 vote. It would protect boundaries of a designated groundwater basin that’s home to the Republican River and Gardner’s Eastern Colorado district,” Fender wrote.

Full story here: https://blogs.denverpost.com/th…

The Yuma lawmaker came close to accusing the Democratic leadership of deliberately bringing up the bill — which he described as “an issue that really does mean life or death on the eastern plains” — while he was absent, a charge denied by House Speaker Terrance Carroll.

Gardner, who was excused from the Legislature Monday and Tuesday, said he was in Washington for campaign-related meetings, but declined to be more specific. His campaign didn’t respond to a question from the Coloradoan Monday on why he was absent from the Legislature.

His absence drew a sharp condemnation from Andy Stone, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: “Today Cory Gardner made his priority abundantly clear: advancing his own self interest rather than the interests of his constituents.”

Gardner also was criticized in January when he was absent on Military Appreciation Day at the Capitol because he was in Washington on campaign business.

He is one of four Republicans seeking to challenge Rep. Betsy Markey, D-Colo. The others are Tom Lucero, Diggs Brown and Dean Madere.