November 10, 2009 10:50 PM UTC

Just finished interviewing Sen. Penry

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• by: Adam Schrager

( – promoted by ClubTwitty)

Here’s the story we’ll be posting shortly on 9NEWS.com.

State Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry (R-Grand Junction) says the reason he’s abandoning his campaign for governor is because “discretion is the better part of valor.”

Penry told 9NEWS in his first interview on the subject that he was trailing in the polls and fundraising to former Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colorado) and while he feels he could have caught up by next summer’s Republican primary, the millions of dollars he would have raised in the process would have hurt the rest of the Republican cause statewide.

“I wish I were in the position today to be the Republican nominee for governor,” he said outside the State Capitol on Tuesday. “The way things played out, it’s just not going to happen this time. I’m going to fall back in a supportive role and find other ways to serve the cause because that’s what it’s about.”

Penry said he believes Gov. Bill Ritter (D-Colorado) is beatable and taking the state in “the wrong direction,” but that McInnis was in a better position to win the Republican nomination to challenge him next November.

Penry, who worked for McInnis when he was in Congress, said he had “multiple frank conversations” with his former boss including for another hour on Tuesday morning and that he had decided not to endorse him or Evergreen businessman Dan Maes who is also in the race.

“I want to know how (McInnis) is going to lead, how he’s going to govern,” Penry said. “I know Scott. I like Scott. I know he’s up to the job intellectually and personally, but that’s not enough. I think the voters of this state are hungry for people to solve problems and make tough choices, so before I endorse I want to know how he’s going to govern. Our conversation will go on until I feel he’s the guy and if he is, then we’ll make a decision.”

Penry said there were “no deals” made with McInnis to get out. It was simply that after seeing the Republican Party come together in New Jersey and Virginia to elect new governors, he thought the resources of the party should be spent electing the “next generation of Republican leaders” in Colorado in the State House and State Senate.

“I’m not going to wage a war of attrition with Scott McInnis,” said Penry. “Instead, I’m going to go out and ask people to help me elect Republicans in the House and Senate. That’s where I’m going to spend my efforts. Hopefully, the good will that we generate from deferring, from stepping back, will put us in a strong position to help some of these other Republicans.”

Some political pundits speculated when news of Penry’s decision was first reported by The Washington Post that he would shift his attention to running for Congress in the 3rd Congressional District against Rep. John Salazar (D-Colorado). Penry said his whole focus until last week was on running for governor and the 40,000 miles he put on his car and the nearly $500,000 he raised for the race attests to that. He said he will sit down with his wife, Jamie, to discuss “the best way for us to serve” in the near future.