August 26, 2019 03:01 PM UTC

Steve House Moving from State GOP to CO-6

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• by: Colorado Pols

The “CEO” of the Colorado Republican Party, Steve House, is stepping down from his day-to-day job directing the State GOP in order to (presumably) prepare for a run for Congress in CO-6.

As Randy Corporon of KNUS radio discussed over the weekend, former Jefferson County GOP Chair and CO-7 candidate Don Ytterberg will take over for House as the new right-hand man of State Party Chairman Ken Buck, who can’t be a full-time Party Chairman on account of the fact that he’s still serving in Congress himself. House has not indicated publicly that he will run for Congress in CO-6, but that’s the reason for the change from what we hear.

Ernest Luning reported last month that House was considering running for the Republican nomination in CO-6, despite (or because of) the fact that Casper Stockham is already in the race (although Stockham has the support of former CO-6 Rep. Tom Tancredo). State GOP Party bylaws prevent House from remaining in a leadership role while also running for public office.

Democrat Jason Crow ousted longtime Republican Rep. Mike Coffman in 2018 to take control of a seat that Republicans had never once relinquished in the history of the district. Crow has already raised more than $1 million for his re-election campaign.

House was a Republican candidate for Governor in 2014 and floated the idea of another statewide bid in 2018 before deciding otherwise. House is perhaps best known in Colorado political circles for his involvement in the “Coffmangate” scandal and his prominent role in a strange #NeverTrump fiasco.