August 29, 2006 05:38 PM UTC

Holy Cow! Joel Hefley Considering Write-in Candidacy

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• by: Colorado Pols

Update: According to the Gazette, Joel Hefley is NOT running, but has this to say about the Doug Lamborn campaign:

“I feel that he ran the most sleazy, dishonest campaign I’ve seen in a long, long time, and I can not support it,” Hefley said in a telephone interview. He is in Oklahoma for a cousin’s funeral.

Though he will not endorse Lamborn, Hefley said it would be “very difficult” as well to support Democrat Jay Fawcett because he wants Republicans to keep control of the House. But he added: “I don’t know what I’m going to do at this point about that.”

Original post follows.

A shocking development in this morning’s Colorado Springs Gazette:

Rep. Joel Hefley is seriously considering running as a writein candidate to retain his seat rather than risk handing it over to Republican nominee Doug Lamborn.

In meetings with national political consultants, Hefley and his supporters have come up with yard-sign designs and the key messages of a possible campaign, Republican Party activist Peggy Littleton said.

Hefley, who has represented the 5th Congressional District for 20 years, has been the subject of a three-week push by high-level Republicans to take this nearly unheard-of step, Littleton said Monday.

To be a write-in candidate, Hefley must file an affidavit of intention with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office by 5 p.m. today.

Since Lamborn edged former Hefley aide Jeff Crank in a six-way primary on Aug. 8, a number of party leaders, including elected officials, have begged Hefley to run again because of concerns about how Lamborn conducted his primary campaign, said Littleton and another party activist, who asked to remain anonymous.

We’ll know more by this evening, but even if Hefley decides not to do this the damage to Lamborn will already have been done.

It is possible that such a run by Hefley would be successful, the very long odds of a write-in bid notwithstanding. The other possibility is that a Hefley run against Lamborn will split the GOP vote and hand Democrat Jay Fawcett an unbelievable gift.