June 06, 2014 04:25 PM UTC

Mike Kopp Makes Pointless Announcement of Running Mate

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• by: Colorado Pols

You've got to hand it to Republican gubernatorial hopeful Mike Kopp: Nobody drinks more of his own Kool-Aid.

Kopp, one of four candidates running for the GOP nomination for Governor (and the fourth-most likely to win), held a press conference today in Denver to announce he has selected a "running mate" for a campaign that will almost certainly come to an unhappy ending in two weeks.  As Lynn Bartels of the Denver Post reports:

Former Sen. Mike Kopp has chosen former Pueblo city councilwoman Vera Ortegon, a Colombia-born microbiologist, as his running mate.

Kopp is the first of the four Republican candidates for governor to announce his selection for lieutentant governor.

He introduced Ortegon in Denver on Friday morning, and then prepared to make campaign stops in Pueblo and Colorado Springs. Before the official announcement, Ortegon hugged excited family and friends.

"I'm ready to unleash the Colombian hurricane," Kopp said as he introduced Ortegon, referring to her energy.

Um…yeah.

The Post has a great picture of Ortegon "pumping her fist" in front of Kopp at today's announcement, looking about as thrilled as someone whose table just got called at Red Lobster. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall for this conversation when Kopp convinced Ortegon to be his "running mate." This is a candidate, after all, who just finished a bicycle tour of Colorado's least-populated areas. Ortegon seems like she might be a nice choice for a GOP running mate, since she could conceivably help attract both women and Hispanic voters. This is a completely theoretical exercise, however, because Kopp is not going to be the Republican nominee for Governor…which means Ortegon gets to run around the state with him for two weeks for no real reason.

So, that sucks for Ortegon. But at least he waited until after his "bicycle tour" to officially include her in his campaign.