July 18, 2005 08:00 AM UTC

Hey, That's (Not) The Ticket!

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• by: Colorado Pols

While Republican candidates have been filling candidacies for available seats like ants scurrying to a picnic this summer, Democrats are still sitting on their hands on some of the bigger races in the state.

Long thought to be the leading Democratic candidate for state treasurer, Chris Romer (Roy’s son) has been telling friends that he may run for the Denver School Board instead. Why the possible switch? Romer hasn’t minced words with friends and supporters in his belief that neither Rutt Bridges nor Bill Ritter will run strong as Democrats in the race for governor, and visions of Rollie Heath’s disastrous run for governor in 2002 are scaring Romer off.

Whether a legitimate concern or not, the fear that a weak top of the ticket will pull down the rest of the Democratic ballot (as it did in 2002) may also be keeping Donkeys away from other statewide races. Weak fundraising numbers from both Bridges and Ritter, in comparison to their Republican counterparts, hasn’t done anything to discourage that talk of late.

State Senator Dan Grossman had been considered the leading contender to run for Attorney General against Republican incumbent John Suthers, but Grossman has gone so quiet over the past couple of weeks that many politicos are starting to wonder if he’ll really run for the seat. If Grossman doesn’t run, and instead tries for re-election, that will sure scuttle the plans of a half-dozen Democrats who are already eyeing his seat.

As for Secretary of State, no Democrat has even sniffed at taking a run there, leading to speculation that State Treasurer Mike Coffman could run unopposed in 2006. For the Democrats, it seems that rallying around the best candidate for governor is taking on far greater importance — in many different ways.