November 08, 2007 07:58 PM UTC

Coffman Warns Wadhams Not to Meddle

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• by: Colorado Pols

Republican leaders have failed in their attempt to dissuade Secretary of State Mike Coffman from running for congress in CD-6, but Coffman apparently isn’t resting easy.

We hear that Coffman has told GOP Chair Dick Wadhams (who led the efforts to talk him out of running) that he will immediately resign from his SOS post if he gets any sense that the state party or other Republican leaders are trying to sabotage his campaign for congress in hopes of preserving his current seat.

You certainly can’t blame Coffman for taking a hard stance with party officials. While Republicans are understandably concerned that they would lose the SOS office in the event of a Coffman congressional victory, Coffman himself has stepped aside once before for “the good of the party.” As two-term state Treasurer, Coffman had long been positioning himself to run for governor in 2006, and he was briefly a candidate before Bob Beauprez kicked sand in his face and told him to get lost. Coffman backed down and ran for SOS instead, but what is the booby prize this time?

The seat in CD-6 is highly prized, because the heavy Republican voter registration advantage likely means that the winner will hold the seat for a long, long time. If Coffman skips this opportunity, what does he do next?