September 13, 2007 06:22 PM UTC

Wolf Enters Senate Race, Vows Positive Campaign

• 7 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

As the Grand Junction Sentinel reports:

Delta County Commissioner Wayne Wolf won’t wage the same kind of campaign in his bid for the Senate that characterized the bitter battle between Republican candidates for governor a year ago, he said.

Wolf, a Republican second-term commissioner, said Wednesday he’ll compete with former U.S. Rep. Bob Schaffer of Fort Collins for the GOP nomination.

“I don’t think we need to have a divisive campaign, but we can have an interesting campaign,” Wolf said as he announced his bid in front of the old Mesa County Courthouse.

Instead of a direct confrontation with Schaffer, Wolf said he plans to concentrate on his own issues, most of them having to do with the struggles of local government with unfunded mandates levied by the Congress.

In dealing with the federal government as a county commissioner and representing Colorado counties at the nation’s capitol, he has found Congress was “not as prepared to deal with local issues as I thought it should be.”

A fifth-generation Colorado rancher, Wolf said he long has had a plan to be a senator and was drawn to the race because it is for an open seat.

It may be an open seat, but listening to Colorado GOP chairman Dick Wadhams wouldn’t make you think so. In yesterday’s Denver Post, Wadhams repeated for the third time his well-rehearsed mantra that Bob Schaffer is the “de facto nominee.”

Maybe that’s true, but if so somebody should tell Wayne Wolf–or the Schaffer-weary Republicans rumored to be taking a contemplative look at Wolf’s longshot bid. Wadhams sounds an awful lot like former GOP Chair Bob Martinez, who was roundly criticized for publicly endorsing Bob Beauprez over Marc Holtzman last year.