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March 06, 2012 06:25 PM UTC

Ignored by major Denver media, Casida campaign throws loop in 3rd District

  • 23 Comments
  • by: Jason Salzman

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Just after Tisha Casida announced her campaign last year to represent Colorado’s 3rd congressional district (the race featuring Republican incumbent Scott Tipton and Democrat Sal Pace) she got a call from Ryan Call, the Chair of Colorado’s Republican Party.

Call asked Casida not to run for Congress because it could hurt the Republican Party’s chances, according to a report in the Colorado Statesman .

“He was very polite,” Casida told me yesterday. “After I made it clear that I was going to run for Congress, he tried to get me to run in a different district.”

She immediately rejected Call’s suggestion, she told me, because it would be “carpet-bagging.”

“I’ve lived here my whole life,” she said. “This is the part of the state that I love and want to represent.”

It’s no surprise that Call would try to talk Casida out of running. Apparently, Call’s assumption is that, as an unaffiliated candidate with ties to Tea Party folks disillusioned with the GOP, Casida could siphon off voters who might otherwise back the Republican. For example, Casida has the support of Bob McConnell, who ran for the 3rd congressional seat in the GOP primary in 2010. You never know whom third-party voters will go for, so Casida could pick up Dems too, but if you look at Casida’s positions, you think Tea Party.

And everyone knows that, at least for now, the race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional seat is expected to be among the closest in the nation.

Casida was on the syndicated Cari and Rob Show Thursday, where host Rob Douglas called her a “serious candidate,” and some journalists in the district are treating her like one. She’s gotten good coverage in, among other outlets, the Grand Junction Sentinel, Craig Daily Press, on Grand Junction’s NBC affiliate, Channel 11, and others.

But despite the stakes and the intereting political undercurrents, no major Denver media have reported on Casida’s shoestring campaign. Not the Denver Post. Not any local TV station.

On the radio Thursday, Casida, a Colorado native who’s run a small marketing business for the past six years, explained why she wants to be in Congress:

“What really started  to make me more interested in politics is a lot of the federal rules and regulations that are coming down the pike that are having negative repercussions on small businesses, which are the backbone or our economy, and in my opinion something we really have to allow to flourish to get out of the economic turmoil that we’re in.”

She wants to be a “good statesman, not a politician” in the mold of Ron Paul, who’s “advocating for use of the Constitution at the federal level of government.”

She also likes Justin Amosh, who’s “doing something great for the youth movement and the liberty movement.” Host Cari Hermacinski pointed out that Casida is a young woman “frankly a face that the conservative movement needs more of.”

Asked by host Hermacinski if she gave some thought to running on the Republican ticket, Casida said:

“Absolutely. I did for a brief period of time. I did follow what happened in 2010 with the McConnell campaign fairly closely. I feel like a lot of the Republican Party has become fairly corrupt in saying that they stand for small government, saying they stand for the Constitution, Republican values, so they profess. But I don’t believe they are actually standing for that. And I think the race with McConnell was one that people might recognize. The Republican Party, at least in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District is not ever going to allow a candidate like myself to run on the Republican ticket.

We have to get back to what our founding fathers had intended. Our founding fathers warned us against political parties, and the reason is, political parties are a collective, which is collective rights, which is the antithesis of individual rights, which is what the Constitution protects.”

Casida believes she needs to raise $250,000 to “compete effectively” in the race.

“In July/August we’ll have a good idea on how effective we can be,” she told me. “It’s not only financial support but also grassroots support. The ballot access is fairly easy. I need 800 signatures, and we have a window of time to capture them in.”

“I feel that there’s a group of people whose voice isn’t being heard by the two party system,” she said.

Comments

23 thoughts on “Ignored by major Denver media, Casida campaign throws loop in 3rd District

  1. and hard to define. Her business is THAT’S NATURAL, based on sustainable farming; She wants to “put the greenback in being green” – environmentallly she knows her stuff; she’s a social “hands off me” libertarian. I’m not sure the tea party will embrace her, but I think unaffiliateds will.  And with Sal “I Pee Anywhere I Want” Pace and Scott “Two Way Please ReElect Me So I Can Give My Friends Jobs” Tipton….she absolutely has a shot.

    1. I don’t say that to disparage her, but CD-3 isn’t electing her. Even if she had money (I haven’t looked, but I bet she doesn’t), it would be a long shot.

        1. is the only reason she gets any airplay here . . . if she had any serious shot of contending for this seat, instead of lauding her, we’d be hearing about what another nut-case she really is.

          Tea party as a legitimate forum?  Ron fucking Paul?  Jesus, my head hurts . . .

            1. imply anything personally, just making a general observation about the strange tone of the conversation she’s been getting here.  

  2. Casida has gotten a little notice on the Western slope, but she is not yet much more than a quick blip on the radar. I do know that Scott is not popular with at least one faction of the local Tea Party. They are, no doubt, looking at Casida.

    My contact in the Tea Party dropped a note yesterday indicating that Colorado Peak Politics, and Reagan Girl, especially is shilling for Scott, while “masquerading” as a member of the Tea Party. He also indicated that there is a “Masquerade” planned for a public event in a public park in April.

    1. Tipton’s people can’t fathom a strong young independent opponent so Marjorie Haun (“reagangirl.com”) alleges Casida is McConnell’s “puppet,” as if he’s plotting evil revenge for losing and went and recruited Casida. You wonder why women run from the GOP in droves?

      They are so worried about keeping their boy in office that they will stop at nothing to undermine anyone.  Mediocrity in Action.

      1. she’s just a girl who happens to like Reagan, and co peak politics !  Riiiight.  Thats pretty bad form from the Tipton people.

  3. Ryan Call is usually very polite.  

    The GOP needs to dump Tipton and bring Josh Penry off the bench if they want to save this seat.  

  4. But I have to say, I like Tisha. I do not like the in-your-face religiosity or the snuggling up to the Tea Party, but I think she has some smarts and a few good ideas in her. She has no chance, but I doubt this will be the last we hear from her. Wouldn’t be surprised to see her heading up some sort of statewide initiative campaign in ’14 and running for office again in ’16 or ’18. A smart Governor or Mayor might want to consider reaching out to her for something to do with small business and/or sustainable ag.

  5. Not so much related to this campaign as this teabadger trope:

    We have to get back to what our founding fathers had intended. Our founding fathers warned us against political parties, and the reason is, political parties are a collective, which is collective rights, which is the antithesis of individual rights, which is what the Constitution protects.

    Madison warned against factions, not parties, but I’m not as up on the Federalist papers as I might be; I doubt if Madison warned against “collectivism.”

    By this line of thought, corporations are “collectives” and since all rights accrue to individuals, Citizens United was wrongly decided, right?

  6. Casida presents an opportunity to crack the “good ole boy “Republican machine control over CD 3.  Sadly, Sal Pace has no chance.  Better an Independent than a RepublicRAT.  

    She has the support of the disillusioned former Tipton supporters and Independents. Just a few Democrat votes could put her over the top and we certainly don’t want Tipton to win again.  

    1. ‘Progressive Prof’ just joined today…

      But the tell is:

      Just a few Democrat votes could put her over the top and we certainly don’t want Tipton to win again.  

      Clearly Pace has a much better chance than Casida.    

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