McInnis Unlikely to Run for Governor

…As he looked at a run for governor, McInnis said, he learned that his history on water issues might hurt him in the Colorado Springs area. I received several reminders of my clashes on water over there, McInnis said. Thats a problem because the Colorado Springs area is heavily Republican and will be well-represented in the state Republican convention and primary, McInnis said.

Pat Waak, chairperson of the Colorado Democratic Party, thinks McInnis Western Slope perspective would have made him a solid contender in the Republican primary. But she said it could be hard for someone with a history of advocating for the Western Slope on water to convince the rest of the state that he has sympathy for their position on water. Any candidate running for governor is going to have to try to find a place of balance on water, she said.

McInnis said the only way he could imagine running is if something happened where he could get around the convention problem. An alternative is to skip the convention altogether and petition onto the primary ballot. But that creates a lot of dissension in the party, and thats just not my focus, he said.

Katy Atkinson, a Republican political analyst in Colorado, said McInnis was lobbied by a number of prominent party members about a year ago to run for Congress, but its late in the process now. The only way she could see McInnis entering the race is if U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez dropped out and decided to run again for Colorados 7th Congressional District seat, and a movement to draft McInnis to replace him developed.