Last week the Denver Post pulled out its own sad trumpet for Republican George Brauchler, who has driven his gubernatorial campaign off a cliff with awful fundraising numbers and then had a piano dropped on his corpse by Tom Tancredo. The Post story also suggested that Brauchler may be considering changing horses in mid-cycle in order to run for Attorney General in 2018, but that seemed like just a rumor…
Until today.
Mark Matthews has the rundown for the Denver Post on a fascinating game of musical chairs taking place in Colorado’s top races:
Brauchler’s campaign confirmed in a statement that he has entertained the idea of switching races. Brauchler serves as the 18th Judicial District attorney and made his name as the prosecutor as the Aurora theater shooter.
“The AG race in Colorado will be bigger than George, and the list of people qualified and dynamic enough to win a down-ticket race at this late date, less than one year out, is short. So, is he taking the calls and hearing people out? Yes, he is,” wrote Sean Tonner, a Brauchler adviser.
Wow.
We’re not going to pretend that it doesn’t make some sense for Brauchler to abandon his increasingly-hopeless bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, but we also have to admit that we’re surprised Brauchler is being so open about the possibility now that Attorney General Cynthia Coffman has entered the race for Governor.
As Matthews reports, Brauchler has been reaching out to potential rivals in an Attorney General’s race, including Rep. Ken Buck, who confirmed today that he will not run for the AG job himself. Some of this probably has to do with political necessity; with state Rep. Cole Wist preparing for a potential run at Attorney General, Brauchler needs to move quickly to stake out his position. It’s not unlikely that Wist may step aside for Brauchler — so long as the ask comes soon enough.
Whether or not Brauchler can clear out a GOP Primary in a race for Attorney General is a question for another day. By admitting that he is seriously considering leaving the governor’s race for something else, Brauchler is essentially waving the white flag on a gubernatorial bid. There’s no real way back from this kind of announcement.
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Cynthia Coffman will be the next governor, and George Brauchler will be the next AG.
You heard it here first.
Hey nutlid. What did you think of those elections last night? My thoughts and prayers go to your party.
Getting pasted is a bitch.
If the trend holds, Republicans will lose all of the statewide races next year, for the first time ever…
Because the Trump party will back them so thoroughly and overcome the surge of activists and Democrats who will make the 2018 voter composition close to the 2016 Presidential race? Virginia saw an 18% rise in voters over 2013's election, and the turnout (according to exit polls) looked like 2016's Presidential race. A swing of 15 gerrymandered Republican Delegate seats in Virginia does not bode well for the "in" party — it kinda hints that there is going to be a 5-10% rise in Democratic off-year votes, which is a large enough wave to swamp all sorts of Republican dreams.
And all that happened BEFORE Republican policies were actually passed and begin to make people really mad. Imagine the reaction of people who, if the tax bill passes in anything similar to its current proposal, see the middle and lower class getting half of $300 billion in individual tax relief, while upper class gets the other half PLUS the spin offs from a corporate tax rate cut of $1 Trillion.
"Imagine"?
Republicans campaign on how much government sucks- when they get elected they set out to prove it.
As long they individually are not caught getting an abortion, peeing with a wide stance or hiking the Appalachian trail – it's all good. The worse they are, the more it confirms their campaign promise that government sucks.
Moddy, if you're correct, then we are about to be led by two pathetic excuses for real lawyers. Coffman is dumb as rocks and Brauchler is an arrogant POS who loves to tweet from court and then lie about it. But I suspect you are wrong. Coffman doesn't get the nomination. Tweety bird doesn't get AG
The guy should change his name to "Coward"
Ooh – I was going to run for _____, but if he is, I guess I won't.
Ooh – I was going to run for _____, but if he is, I guess I'll wait
Ooh – I was going to run for Gov, but if she is, I guess I won't
Why doesn't he just do what it takes to run a campaign and kick some butt?
Coward.
Gardner’s already trademarked it . . .
ok ok- good point
Howabout – I'll run early and often while unopposed. Otherwise – I got stuff to do around the house.
Laundry? Dusting? Washing windows? It’s a bitch. Think I’ll run for whatever . . .
Brauchler 2018: for whatever!
Perfect!
Brauchler for Colorado 2018!
then, he could fund raise, not run for anything and keep the dough.
hmmm… I'm kinda liking this.
If I changed to Jorge Braukler – and did all the fund raising over the phone, would that be , IDK, illegal.
Musical Wing Nuts….. (the Colorado GOP version)
Remember that game you played as child called Musical Chairs. Well the kids at the Colorado GOP have their own version.
As the music plays and one chair disappears, Cynthia moves to the governor's race, Broccoli gives up on the governor's race for the AG's race, Cole Wist gives up the AG's race to make a bid for DA in the 18th Judicial District, and in a move right out of House of Cards, Mike Coffman agrees to run as Cynthia's lieutenant governor.
Office shopping? Not sure what he wants to do just knows he wants a government paycheck….