Who's Backing Maes?

by: Colorado Pols

Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 11:57:24 AM MDT

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES ENDORSING MAES

UNKNOWN POSITION OR NO ENDORSEMENT YET

Help us out, Polsters! Maes' website doesn't seem to have an updated list of endorsements, so if you've seen one of the candidates in the second list make an endorsement, let us know.

Coffman Votes Yea, But Really Meant Nay?

by: ScottP

Tue May 04, 2010 at 00:48:01 AM MDT

On April 29, Congress voted on H.R. 2499: Puerto Rico Democracy Act of 2010. It's to allow the people of Puerto Rico to make 2 votes. First they vote whether they like their current status with the U.S.A. Then, if the majority votes against their current status, they will vote whether they want to become their own country, enter some other ambiguous status with the U.S.A. or become our 51st state. Congressman Coffman voted "Yea". This is not the confusing part.

On April 30, Congressman Coffman releases this statement:

I am unequivocally opposed to H.R. 2499.  Instead of focusing on getting Americans back to work, Democrats have chosen to pursue another unnecessary legislative distraction. I have been vocal about my opposition H.R. 2499 and intended to vote against this bill.  I will correct the Congressional Record to reflect my position when Congress reconvenes and will continue to oppose this measure.  Should H.R. 2499 come back to the House for a final vote following Senate action, I will vote against it.

This is where I get confused. Was his "Yea" vote a clerical error? Can Representatives go back and change their vote? Why did he vote "Yea", when he really meant "Nay"? Can someone explain this to me?

Mike Coffman admits Republican Party has not been fiscally responsible

by: GregKing

Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 08:03:06 AM MST

I was impressed with the fact that this Republican whom I voted for in the last election is finally out talking to his constituents. I was further impressed when Mike Coffman let the audience know that he is deeply disappointed with the lack of fiscal responsibility shown by the Republican Party over the years; yes, he actually made this statement out loud - um, in front of a mostly Republican/Tea Party audience.

Will Mike Coffman Apologize to Governor Bill Ritter for Questioning his Patriotism?

by: ThillyWabbit

Tue Nov 03, 2009 at 19:16:55 PM MST

Last week, Mike Coffman spanked young Josh Penry for pandering to eastern plains farmers and ranchers, and then took another shot at Governor Ritter:

Eng Claims Tight Race with Coffman

by: Colorado Pols

Thu Oct 30, 2008 at 09:40:58 AM MDT

***Hank Eng Pulls Neck-to-Neck in Historically Close Congressional Race***

For the first time in the history of CD-6, the race for Congress is neck-and-neck.  In a poll conducted by Zenmango Media Group, Congressional Candidate Hank Eng has pulled within 5 points of his opponent, current Secretary of State Mike Coffman.

Zenmango Media conducted research between October 25th and October 27th, 2008 via online surveys among 609 Colorado voters residing across the Sixth Congressional District...  

...Shockingly, Coffman is losing ground in Douglas County, historically one of the most Republican counties in the state.  The new poll results show that Hank Eng and Mike Coffman are in a dead-heat, each standing with 41% of the vote in Douglas County.    

Eng believes that his television ad campaign is working. "This is the first time that the Democratic candidate has been able to reach the airwaves and the new poll numbers show that I have been able to reach out to the constituents of CD-6 who clearly understand what is at stake this year."...

...Other interesting figures from the poll include Hank ahead of Coffman amongst women and registered Independents, and Coffman with an incredible 64% negative rating.

First off, this is not the first time that a Democrat in CD-6 has been on TV. In 2004, Joanna Conti ran TV ads - albeit ridiculous ones - in an attempt to unseat Tom Tancredo.

We also have a hard time believing this poll, not the least because it was an online poll. If Eng was really as close as they claim, Coloradans certainly would have heard about it by now, and the DCCC would have dropped at least a small amount of money in the race.

We're not saying it's not going to happen for Hank...well, yes we are.

Could Republicans Actually Hold the SOS Office?

by: Colorado Pols

Fri Aug 15, 2008 at 10:45:29 AM MDT

Some Colorado Republicans want Secretary of State Mike Coffman to step down in the next two weeks so another Republican can run for that office this November.

Their strategy is to stop Democrats from controlling the office for the next two years.

But Coffman, the Republican candidate in the 6th Congressional District race, said Friday that he will stay in office through the November election or beyond...

Coffman's decision to run for Congress prompted opposition by local Republicans who don't want the Secretary of State's Office, which has long been occupied by Republicans, to go to a Democrat.

Some Republicans want Coffman to step down before Aug. 28. That would prompt a special election in November between a Republican candidate and the Democratic appointee named by Gov. Bill Ritter to run the office until then.

Obviously, the possibility of retaining the SoS in November beats the certainty of losing it--Coffman's swift resignation would be the right thing to do if his interest was in party over principle. But that's kind of the point, Coffman is the moral and strategic victor now over the would-be kingmakers who tried to stop his run for Congress. He doesn't have to quit on a schedule that accommodates them, and we seriously doubt he will--it would be a violation of his sacred Marine honor or something. He intends to finish the job of managing the 2008 elections and then go to Congress in January. If you can also interpret that as a fat middle finger directed at the party insiders who lined up to endorse his vastly inferior pipsqueak of an opponent, we expect Coffman is cool with your interpretation.

In fact, we would bet money that the lavishing of praise on GOP chairman Dick Wadhams seen in yesterday's appeal for Coffman to resign (original post below) only increased Coffman's resolve to tell Wadhams which orifice he can shove his proxy-delivered "suggestions" up.

--

We've gotten some strange and interesting emails in our time, but this one may take the cake.

The email below appears to have come from Dan Kopelman, the same Dan Kopelman who got Secretary of State Mike Coffman into trouble for a variety of reasons.

The email below was forwarded to us, and it seems to outline a plan for how Republicans can hold onto the SOS office despite Coffman's pending resignation once he is formally elected to congress in CD-6 in November. According to the email, Republicans could convene a vacancy committee before August 28 and...well, we don't really follow exactly, so we'll leave it up to the bigger brains in the room to figure this out.

But what makes this email a double-doozy is the weird deification of GOP Party Czar Dick Wadhams. Click below for the email...

Coffman Will Report Serious Coin

by: Colorado Pols

Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 17:07:11 PM MDT

First, a press release from the campaign of CD-6 candidate Mike Coffman:

Highlands Ranch, CO - Sixth Congressional District candidate Mike Coffman announced today that he will report having raised over $300,000 in contributions this quarter, bringing his overall total to over $750,000 to date.

"The fact that each quarter we have been able to surpass our fundraising total from the previous reporting period is very encouraging. These strong numbers will ensure we have the resources needed to make a strong push in the final six weeks of the campaign", said Coffman Campaign Manager Dustin Zvonek...

...Coffman for Congress will file a full financial report with the Federal Election Commission on July 15th to include all contributions and expenditures during the second reporting period of 2008.

Coffman's fundraising should keep him firmly atop the CD-6 leaderboard, and the amount he raised in Q2 alone will likely be more than candidates Ted Harvey and Steve Ward raise in total when all is said and done.

Elsewhere in CD-6, Harvey announced the endorsement of The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) and their Colorado affiliate, the Credit Union Association of Colorado (CUAC). Wil Armstrong added to his list of endorsements by announcing that he has the support of gasbag radio host Dan Caplis. Yay for them.

Coffman Poll Shows CD-6 Race Basically Over

by: Colorado Pols

Mon Jun 02, 2008 at 11:07:04 AM MDT

Highlands Ranch, CO - Sixth Congressional District candidate Mike Coffman released today results from a recent poll of likely Republican primary voters.  

Question: "If the Republican primary election for Congress were held today and you had to make a choice, for whom would you vote?"

Response:
Mike Coffman   47%
Wil Armstrong  19%
Ted Harvey      7%
Steve Ward      4%

The poll was conducted for the Coffman for Congress campaign by the Tarrance Group between 5/27/08 and 5/28/08 with a margin of error of +/- 5.8%

"These numbers are very encouraging, especially considering the fact that there are only 39 days until absentee ballots will be mailed out to voters and just over 70 days until the Primary Election", said Coffman Campaign Manager Dustin Zvonek.  

"One of the most significant aspects of these numbers is that margin between Mike and his closest competitor is now greater than the number of undecided voters", added Zvonek.

These are certainly strong numbers, and although they should be taken with a grain of salt coming from an internal poll, it's hard to argue the logic of the results. Coffman has both the money and the name ID, and none of the other candidates can match him in either department. Whether or not Coffman really polls at 47% is irrelevant; what this poll shows is that his numbers are strong enough to indicate that this race is all but over.

Candidates in CD-6 "Debate"

by: Colorado Pols

Thu May 22, 2008 at 10:41:39 AM MDT

Businessman Wil Armstrong, Secretary of State Mike Coffman, state Sen. Ted Harvey and state Sen. Steve Ward agreed on not raising taxes, not making a hasty exit from Iraq and not using government subsidies for corn-based ethanol. And they voiced their admiration for Tom Tancredo, the congressman they hope to succeed.

But during the second half of the taping - not for the TV show but for the Web site of Caldara's Independence Institute - one major split occurred during a discussion on energy policy...

..."We are currently subsidizing a failed national energy policy," Ward said. "I disagree. This is something the government can work to solve."

Harvey said what sets him apart is his background in environmental public policy, an area that would make him the best choice to counter what he described as "radical environmentalists."

Armstrong, chief executive officer of a software development and consulting firm, tried to distinguish himself from the others by casting himself as the only candidate who was not a "career politician."

That drew rebuttals from all three of his opponents, citing their experience as businessmen. Coffman and Ward also cited their experience as Marines who served in Iraq.

The two said their military service had helped shape their views on what ought to be done in Iraq.

It's interesting that none of the candidates tried very hard to separate themselves from the other. In a race in which Secretary of State Mike Coffman is the favorite, you'd think the other three candidates - particularly Ward and Harvey - would be trying harder to highlight their differences. Because if all four candidates share the same views, Coffman's name ID and money mean that he is getting elected easily.

CD-6 Republican Assembly Tomorrow

by: Colorado Pols

Fri May 16, 2008 at 10:24:35 AM MDT

The race to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo hits its first checkpoint this weekend, when Republicans in the 6th Congressional District hold their assembly.

Five Republicans are vying to replace Tancredo, a sometimes controversial conservative who decided not to seek re-election.

Saturday's assembly, at the Doug las County Events Center, provides the first chance to winnow the field. But the event has lost a little of its luster because the two heavyweights in the race in terms of fundraising - Secretary of State Mike Coffman and mortgage banker Wil Armstrong - are forgoing the assembly and petitioning onto the ballot.

That leaves state Sens. Ted Harvey and Steve Ward and Aurora electrical engineer Pepito Castellanes fighting it out to secure the 30 percent of the votes at the assembly needed to make the primary ballot.

"All I care about is getting on the ballot at this point," Harvey said...

...Coffman, who leads in fundraising with more than $324,000 on hand, has painted himself as the candidate of experience and credibility.

"I am a very strong fiscal conservative," Coffman said.

Armstrong, who is the son of former U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong and is second in fundraising with $283,000 on hand, portrays himself as a fresh voice.

"We feel Wil is the right guy to change the way Congress is doing businesses," said Armstrong's campaign manager, Jack Stansbery...

...Earlier this year, Coffman's campaign conducted a poll that found Coffman was the heavy favorite in the race. But Stansbery, Armstrong's campaign manager, says a lot has changed since then.

Our view? The outcome here is largely irrelevant unless Steve Ward is a runaway winner. Harvey will certainly make it onto the ballot, but his inclusion in the field makes no real difference except for a spoiler role; Harvey's inability to raise money has made this a two-horse race between Coffman and Armstrong--no matter what happens today.

Coffman Goes Up on TV and Radio Today

by: Colorado Pols

Thu May 01, 2008 at 13:23:58 PM MDT

Ted Harvey, We Hardly Knew Ye

by: Colorado Pols

Wed Apr 16, 2008 at 11:07:42 AM MDT

Mike Coffman (R): $244,239 ($323,897 COH)
Wil Armstrong (R): $226,815 ($283,006 COH)
Ted Harvey (R): $42,418 ($21,872 COH)

Coffman and Armstrong aren't likely to slow down in their fundraising battle, which means that Harvey would have to do astronomically well in Q2 to even be in the ballpark before the primary. This one is a two-man race, folks.

Coffman Raises $244,239 in Q1

by: Colorado Pols

Tue Apr 15, 2008 at 12:35:20 PM MDT

Coffman Demands Meaningless Pledge

by: Colorado Pols

Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 15:17:52 PM MDT

Highlands Ranch, CO - This past Friday, March 14th, the Coffman for Congress campaign sent a letter to all of the candidates in the race for the 6th Congressional District urging them to sign a pledge to disavow any and all negative 527 activities.

"The voters of the Sixth Congressional District deserve a campaign that is centered on issues and ideas, not petty personal attacks", said Coffman.

Coffman for Congress Campaign Manager, Dustin Zvonek added, "After what took place in the 2006 primary for the 5th Congressional District and in the primary for the U.S. Senate in 2004, we believe it's important for the voters and the Republican Party to have a clean and honest election. We hope our opponents agree and will sign the pledge".

Sign the pledge. Disavow away. Who cares? No candidate is supposed to "know" anything about 527 campaigns anyway. It doesn't take a lot of backbone to disavow something you aren't supposed to acknowledge anyway. Or perhaps this is Coffman's way of pre-emptively giving himself cover for 527 attacks that he knows will come against his opponents.

Full letter follows.

Harvey Pulls Out Crystal Ball

by: Colorado Pols

Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 14:06:21 PM MST

Harvey's campaign sent out a silly press release last Friday (click below for the full release) predicting that Coffman would bypass the caucus process:

Today, State Senator Ted Harvey's campaign for Congress predicted that fellow 6th Congressional District candidate, Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman, will soon announce that he will bypass the Republican Party's grassroots-based caucus nominating process and opt to gather petition signatures to place him on the Primary Election ballot.

"I hope Mike will join me to directly engage our grassroots Republican activists but it's clear he lacks the base support I have and feels he can't afford to lose this first contest for our party's nomination," said Harvey.

Harvey is obviously trying hard to set himself up as the establishment Republican Party candidate, even though he didn't raise squat during the Q4 fundraising period ($35,000 compared to more than $200,000 each for Coffman and Wil Armstrong). This release would make a lot more sense AFTER the caucus rather than issuing a goofy statement predicting something to happen.

"What Was That All About?"

by: Colorado Pols

Mon Mar 03, 2008 at 09:59:01 AM MST

After 10 weeks of uncertainty surrounding the technology that will be deployed in this year's elections, it looks as if Colorado counties will be able to use the voting devices they purchased after all.

Nearly all the equipment that Secretary of State Mike Coffman decertified in mid-December got Coffman's OK late last month. The vast majority require no new programming or hardware modifications. The only machines that haven't yet passed muster are optical ballot scanners used by two counties that are still being retested.

And they may get a thumbs-up sometime this week.

So we're left wondering: What was that all about?...

...The agency head - in this case, Coffman - is ultimately responsible for how he uses any advice. He chose to not talk to clerks or vendors, and this was a mistake.

For his part, Coffman told us House Bill 1155, recently signed into law by Ritter, allowed him to quickly recertify rejected devices. A big plus is that the new law eliminates any question about the propriety of consulting clerks and vendors during retesting.

That said, two widely used decertified devices might never have been rejected in December had he made a few phone calls. One, an optical scanner from Hart InterCivic, was inaccurately reading ballots with extra or stray marks.

During a public hearing Tuesday, clerks said they check ballots for stray marks before feeding them into the scanners. So he recertified the machines after clerks pledged to print a warning on ballots, telling voters not to make extra marks. Duh.

Coffman Touts Huge Lead in Own Poll

by: Colorado Pols

Mon Jan 28, 2008 at 15:21:54 PM MST

Question: "If the Republican primary election for Congress were held today and you had to make a choice, for whom would you vote?"

Response: Mike Coffman 44%
Wil Armstrong 10%
Ted Harvey 8%
Steve Ward 1%

The poll was conducted for the Coffman for Congress campaign by the Tarrance Group between 1/22/08 and 1/23/08 with a margin of error of +/- 5.8%

That Coffman is ahead at this point should be no surprise, but the margin is a little shocking (although 37% are apparently undecided). In terms of name recognition, Coffman is heads and shoulders above any of his other opponents, and apparently few average voters are interested in the fact that Coffman is a complete disaster as Secretary of State. That last point shouldn't be a surprise, either, because voters in CD-6 continually turned a blind eye to Tom Tancredo's congressional ineptitude and re-elected him repeatedly.

Perhaps Coffman shouldn't be such a favorite in CD-6, but as we've said from the beginning, his name ID alone makes him the man to beat in a district that, by and large, is not that politically-savvy.

Click below for the full press release.

The Hits Just Keep Coming for Coffman

by: Colorado Pols

Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 07:57:28 AM MST

The office of Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman scrambled Wednesday to correct a problem with its voter-registration database, which was incorrectly informing voters of their party affiliation.

The state Democratic Party told the office Wednesday morning that several individuals who have registered as either Democrats or Republicans found that their status was listed as "unaffiliated."

The glitch raised immediate concerns from party officials and others who feared that potential participants in Colorado's Feb. 5 caucuses would think they weren't allowed to take part because only those voters who have registered with the Democrats or the Republicans by Dec. 5 are able to caucus.

Both political parties have links taking potential caucus-goers to the secretary of state's voter-registration database.

Coffman said the problem would be fixed immediately.

"This is a very minor issue," Coffman said. "The information has been available all along at their (voters') respective county clerk's office. And it's being corrected. It will be updated tonight or by tomorrow morning."

Ugh.

Coffman Raises $200,000 in Q4

by: Colorado Pols

Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 15:19:52 PM MST

Phase Line Responds, But Doesn't Help

by: Colorado Pols

Thu Dec 20, 2007 at 17:20:22 PM MST

The president of a political consulting firm said today there's no connection between his involvement in Secretary of State Mike Coffman's congressional race, and Coffman's favorable decision for one of his clients, a voting machine manufacturer.

Sean Tonner, the president of Phase Line Strategies, said Premier Election Solutions hired his firm in August.

"When Premier came to us, everybody thought Tom Tancredo was going to run in 2010," Tonner said.

Congressman Tancredo, a Littleton Republican, announced in October he wouldn't seek another term. That's when Coffman announced he would seek the GOP nomination in the 6th Congressional District.

That may be "officially" true, but that excuse doesn't hold a drop of water. Tom Wiens, Ted Harvey and plenty of other Republicans had long expected Tancredo to depart, and Coffman surely was looking at this race long before Tancredo's "official" announcement. As we discussed here back in January, it was an open secret for months that Tancredo was unlikely to run for re-election.

But wait, there's more...

Tonner is serving as Coffman's pro bono campaign spokesman, but he said his company has not been hired to work on the campaign. Tonner said Coffman misspoke when he said he had hired Phase Line.

"Mike and I go back over 10 years. We were both Gulf War veterans. I would charge any hill for him," Tonner said.

"There's nothing nefarious here."

Tonner has served as Coffman's spokesperson, and he officially announced Coffman's intentions to run on the same day that Tancredo said he would not run again. Clearly this was being discussed long before Tancredo "officially" bowed out of the race.

We also find it a bit curious that Tonner would go out of his way to point out that Coffman hasn't "officially" hired Phaseline to run his campaign. "Tonner said Coffman misspoke when he said he had hired Phase Line." Seriously? Coffman accidentally said that he hired a consultant that he hadn't actually hired? Come on now - you've got to come up with something better than that.

The truth, in fact, will be tough to hide. By all indications Coffman HAS hired Phase Line and said it himself. If Tonner is telling the truth, he should still show up on the report as an in-kind contributor. If Tonner isn't telling the truth, then somebody is going to have to be cooking some serious books in the next couple of weeks. The mid-January FEC report will be very interesting.

Interestingly enough, the News also reports that Phase Line has already lost one client because of this:

Premier on Wednesday terminated its contract with Phase Line after questioning from the Rocky Mountain News.