March 24, 2009 08:30 PM UTC
Colorado Pols Political Tourney - Round Two
- by: Colorado Pols
As the NCAA Tournament barrels toward the Sweet 16, the wildly popular Colorado Pols Political Tournament rolls on.
We’ve updated the bracket (CLICK HERE to download the updated PDF) and picked a few upsets, so click below for more commentary and to view the images of each side of the field.
Note: Here’s how to fill out your bracket: Consider the Political Tournament a race towards a big final political office. But in the meantime, in each matchup, consider the two candidates in a hypothetical statewide political race.
For example, if Mark Udall and Scott Renfroe were running against each other for a statewide office, who would win? You choose the winner of that race and move them on to the next round.

The big upsets on this side of the bracket:
Walker Roberts Stapleton taking out Diana DeGette, setting up an expected real-life 2010 matchup for State Treasurer with Cary Kennedy. DeGette may be the most senior member of congress in Colorado, but she has done next to nothing to increase her presence outside of her home district in Denver and would have a tough time winning a statewide race.
Will Shafroth over Greg Brophy. Shafroth showed in his primary loss in CD-2 in 2008 that he has the charisma and ability to be a strong future candidate in Colorado. Brophy is only a top name in the state GOP because there’s a huge void and somebody has to go there.
Steve Johnson over Cory Gardner. Johnson, a former state Senator, was popular and well-known for being able to work across the aisle. Gardner comes off as a petulant child sometimes and seems utterly incapable of offering comments that aren’t just red-meat GOP rants. The more moderate Johnson would beat Gardner in a big race.

No upsets with Scott McInnis and Josh Penry, but it does set up one of the most interesting second-round matchups. In a statewide race, which may just happen in 2010, which one of these West Slope Republicans wins?
Lionel Rivera over Doug Lamborn. In ultra-right-wing CD-5, Lamborn managed to hold off the Colorado Springs Mayor and four others in 2006. But in a statewide race, we think Rivera would be the favorite to take out the unlikable Lamborn.
Morgan Carroll over Bob Schaffer. The charismatic Carroll would be more refreshing and interesting in a statewide race than the stale, bored Schaffer we saw getting drubbed by Mark Udall in 2008.
No more upsets at the bottom of the bracket, but two interesting matchups occur: Mike Coffman, who longed to be Governor and follow in Bill Owens’ footsteps from State Treasurer to the top job, gets to challenge Owens straight-up. Elsewhere, Federico Pena and John Hickenlooper face off in a battle of popular Denver mayors.
What do you think? What is the most interesting matchup in Round 2? Vote below…

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