May 06, 2016 11:37 AM UTC

Get More Smarter on Friday (May 6)

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• by: Colorado Pols

May the Sixth Be With You; that doesn’t make nearly as much sense. It’s time to Get More Smarter with Colorado Pols! If you think we missed something important, please include the link in the comments below (here’s a good example).

TOP OF MIND TODAY…

► As of right now, Robert Blaha, Jon Keyser, and Ryan Frazier are all on the June 28th Primary ballot for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination. Here’s the breakdown of what’s happening. Frazier could still end up withdrawing from the race according to a deal made with a Denver judge on Thursday. John Frank has more for the Denver Post.

► Donald Trump is all but assured to be the GOP nominee for President, which has Republicans around the country completely flummoxed as to how to respond to questions from reporters. Colorado State Republican Chair Steve House issued a tepid congratulations to Trump on Thursday. House Speaker Paul Ryan, meanwhile, is still refusing to offer public support to His Hairness.

Get even more smarter after the jump…

IN CASE YOU ARE STANDING NEAR A WATER COOLER…

► Sean Paige, communications director for the Republican State Senate Majority and a former staffer for Americans for Prosperity, apparently finds it completely acceptable to use sexual slurs in public discussions about Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Needless to say, we disagree.

► Republican Jon Keyser is more of a walking political stunt than an actual candidate for U.S. Senate. On Thursday, Keyser announced that he had “signed” a “pledge” to only serve two terms (or 12 years) in the U.S. Senate if elected, which is kind of like an overweight person promising to only eat three meals a day. Here’s why this is completely irrelevant: The last Colorado Senator to serve more than two terms in office has been dead for nearly 30 years.

Perhaps it would have made more sense for Keyser to “sign” a “pledge” to actually finish a term if elected to the Senate. You may recall that Keyser didn’t even make it through a full two-year term in the Colorado legislature before resigning.

► Yesterday was “Cinco de Mayo,” and Donald Trump celebrated by Tweeting a picture of himself preparing to eat a “taco bowl” at his desk while declaring “I Love Hispanics!”. Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus says that Trump is “trying” to sound a more unifying tone, which is equal parts funny and depressing.

► Congressman Scott Tipton continues to take heat after a recent report that a bill he is sponsoring to allow more oil and gas drilling in Colorado was actually written by the oil and gas industry. This is not going away anytime soon, as the Grand Junction Sentinel reports:

Former state Sen. Gail Schwartz, a Democrat, bashed Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton on Thursday, saying Tipton was giving free rein to a “land speculator from Houston.”

Schwartz last month won the Democrat nomination for the 3rd Congressional District in the November general election. Tipton is seeking a fourth term and faces a primary challenger, Alex Beinstein.

Schwartz took issue with Tipton’s circulation of a draft bill that was drafted by a lobbyist representing Houston-based SG Interests, which owns leases on Thompson Divide and has fought efforts to cancel or modify those leases.

SG Interests employees contributed $16,539 to Tipton in the 2014 election cycle, making the company the largest single source of campaign contributions to him.

► Legislation to protect students’ online identity is on its way to the desk of Gov. John Hickenlooper.

► Republicans in the state Senate killed a bill that was intended to provide more information for people visiting freestanding “emergency clinics” in Colorado that do little more than give you a kleenex and a $12,000 bill. A Senate committee killed HB16-1374 (Required Notice & Disclosures in Freestanding ERs) on a 3-2 partisan vote.

► Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has endorsed Donald Trump for President, which wouldn’t be all that interesting if not for the fact that Pence publicly backed Ted Cruz for the same position earlier this week. Who does Pence think he is — Cory Gardner?

► So-called “construction defects” legislation (otherwise known as, “No Responsibility for Developers”) has again stalled in the state legislature.

OTHER LINKS YOU SHOULD CLICK

► “When did science become a belief system?”

► One of the “Duck Dynasty” characters will be attending the annual Western Conservative Summit hosted by Colorado Christian University. Somehow, this is “breaking news.”

ICYMI

► Donald Trump is pivoting to a General Election messaging mode, which basically means reversing himself on a whole bunch of policy positions.

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