June 06, 2009 04:24 PM UTC

Penry Owns McInnis In New Straw Poll

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Grand Junction Sentinel reports, apparently the right-wing of the party still rules, even in Denver.

A straw poll of Denver County Republicans on Thursday placed Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry atop the list of prospective Republican candidates for the 2010 race against Bill Ritter for governor.

Penry swiped more than half the vote, beating fellow Grand Junction resident Scott McInnis 53.3 percent to 26.7 percent. Gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes placed third with 13.3 percent of the vote…

“Obviously it’s very flattering to receive this kind of support before making an announcement one way or the other,” Penry said. “I think it’s evidence that there’s real enthusiasm for new energy, new leadership and a new way forward in the Republican party.”

McInnis, who won a recent straw poll among El Paso County Republicans, said he doesn’t give much credence to straw polls…

Mike Hesse, McInnis’ former chief of staff and a volunteer for his current campaign, said McInnis doesn’t plan to put much emphasis on straw polls in general this election season because they can be skewed by the amount of friends people “bring to breakfast.”

“The real poll is going to be a year and a half from now,” McInnis said.

We don’t disagree that straw polls at events are less than reliably predictive of actual results–but we’re still surprised to see Scott “McLobbyist” McInnis fare this poorly in a poll of Denver Republicans, where one could reasonably expect a stronger turnout of moderates, fellow lawyers and lobbyists, and urban professionals that conventional wisdom would tend to align with McInnis.

Because frankly, if can’t even get traction in Denver…