March 09, 2008 02:15 AM UTC

Political newcomer outpolls Doug Bruce at GOP assembly

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• by: NEWSMAN

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Also see: Barry Noreen: For many, Douglas Bruce is just a bad movie

http://www.gazette.com/article…

EXCERPT Colorado Springs Gazette March 8, 2008

Mark Waller, who has been known so far only as the Republican challenging Rep. Douglas Bruce, earned a new title Saturday: Front-runner to take Bruce’s seat.

Waller received 57 percent of the vote from House District 15 delegates at the El Paso County General Assembly, winning top-line designation on the Aug. 12 primary ballot. Bruce, who earned 43 percent, is the first incumbent in recent memory to get outpolled at the assembly.

Because both men received the minimum 30 percent support necessary to get onto the primary ballot, Waller’s win means only that he will be above Bruce on the ballot. Democrats also have two candidates competing for a seat in the overwhelmingly Republican district in northeast Colorado Springs.

Bruce, … goes into the primary with far greater name recognition among constituents and will draw support from a bigger crowd, he said.

Bruce, a former El Paso County commissioner who gained a following for authoring the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, began to lose his luster after taking his legislative seat.  

Waller, an attorney and Air Force reservist, played off that controversy Saturday, noting that his views on issues differed little from Bruce’s conservative stances. But in him, constituents could find someone who works with other legislators to do something rather than alienate peers and leave the district without a voice, he said.

Bruce shot back that Waller was an untested conformist who represented the status quo rather than government reform. He did not shy from his “brusque” and “sometimes tactless” style – his own words – but said he’ll continue fighting for constitutional rights and against taxes.

It is clear, though, that Bruce has lost at least some support. One of Waller’s other nominators, Dan Lanotte, noted that he had backed Bruce as recently as the December vacancy committee meeting.

“We’re not saying that Doug is an evil man, because most of us agree with his principles,” Waller supporter Brian Wess said as the votes were being counted. “We’re just saying that we need somebody who can communicate conservative ideals and represent us at the state Legislature, and unfortunately Doug has shown he can’t do that.”

Waller – who received 139 votes to Bruce’s 105 – said he intends to ramp up what was a relatively quiet campaign. Though he said the victory should help him build name recognition, he is aware that he hasn’t won anything yet, he said.

Bruce said he hopes to engage Waller in a series of debates and will try to portray the differences between his voting record and what he called Waller’s lack of record. But he said that he did not take the votes of 139 people as any general outcry or rebuke against him.

“It doesn’t matter. Top-line means nothing,” Bruce said. “People know me. They don’t know him.”

http://www.gazette.com/common/…