The Associated Press took a look over the weekend at a question on many minds in El Paso County: What will Rep. Joel Hefley do?
If there’s one thing Rep. Joel Hefley’s opponents, supporters, political challengers – and even his own staffers – want to know, it’s whether he’s running for an 11th term. But so far, the Republican from Colorado Springs is keeping whatever plans he has to himself.
Republicans and Democrats have for months speculated that Hefley might retire. A posting on a political Web site Thursday evening went so far as to say Hefley had planned to make his announcement Friday. It helped touch off a rumor that ricocheted through Colorado’s political community.
After the rumor proved false, Hefley’s wife, Lynn, offered a little advice. He plans to make his announcement soon, but he hasn’t said when, she told The Associated Press. Every time someone does something like this, he just pushes it back that much further.
Hefley, 70, has a reputation for independent thinking and for taking his time when it comes to deciding whether to run for re-election. He technically has until May 19 at the Congressional Assembly to decide if he wants to run again, said state GOP spokeswoman Rachael Sunbarger.
The aforementioned rumor is probably from a comment in the Thursday Open Thread from last week.
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Does that mean we can keep posting rumors until it’s too late for him to decide?
Hefley was on 740 this afternoon with Michelli and he said that he would announce within the next few days. Michelli pressed him and Hefley implied that he would make his announcement before next Tuesday.
Phoenix, nice comment! I think it does not say much for a congressman if he can not decide if he wants to run or not. If rumors have that much impact on him, I don?t know how he handles the press back in DC!
So in a couple days we get to start wringing our hands trying to figure out who is going to run. Anyone got this one handicapped yet? I think Anderson is in the lead (for now) just because he had the guts to get out and run. He will have a tough time running as a more liberal candidate in the primary, but he has a big advantage that he showed the courage to jump into this early.
Hefley was on 740 this afternoon with Michelli and he said that he would announce within the next few days. Michelli pressed him and Hefley implied that he would make his announcement before next Tuesday.
Phoenix, nice comment! I think it does not say much for a congressman if he can not decide if he wants to run or not. If rumors have that much impact on him, I don?t know how he handles the press back in DC!
So in a couple days we get to start wringing our hands trying to figure out who is going to run. Anyone got this one handicapped yet? I think Anderson is in the lead (for now) just because he had the guts to get out and run. He will have a tough time running as a more liberal candidate in the primary, but he has a big advantage that he showed the courage to jump into this early.
Hefley was a no-show at the El Paso Committee Meetingthis past Saturday. The juicy rumor there was that Hefley saw the very positive attention John Anderson was getting and got mad and left. It was clear his staff expected him to be there as did the Chair when she called Hefley to the podium. Frankly, it pretty funny to think of Hefely sitting in the parking lot fuming. Sounds like he is finally reading the writing on the wall. If he does retire, I suspect Crank will be out the next day since he has been campaigning for this position for months. Anderson should not be underestimated and Crank will not get the support he thinks is a given just because Hefley “blesses” him. The old guard will not support Crank ever. If Hefely does run, it will be a bruising primary and I am not convinced he will be the winner. If he wants to go out on top, he should retire.
I might have been wrong about the announcement of the Hefley retirement last Friday but I now give it till this Friday. I was off by a week but as I remember Coloradopols was off by a year.
I think that if Hefley decides NOT to run then Anderson will be nearly unbeatable actually. Fawcett is even pissing off his own base.
I think that Anderson will have problems if he has only one conservative opponent. He is pretty well on the left side of El Paso?s Republicans, but he has shown leadership and could easily pull off a win in a plurality. If the conservatives shoot themselves in the foot in the primary, Anderson will be the next guy in DC.
What is going on with Fawcett and the left? I have not heard anything but giddiness from them over having a real live candidate who can be taken seriously for once.