July 09, 2009 04:12 PM UTC

Penry Raising "Senate" Funds, McInnis Releases Endorsement List

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• by: Colorado Pols

As the Denver Post reports:

State Sen. Josh Penry may be running for governor – he’ll announce his decision Saturday – but as recently as last week he was raising cash for re-election to the Senate…

The parties allow Penry, R-Grand Junction, to collect dollars from those who may be leery of choosing sides in the GOP gubernatorial primary or who support Gov. Bill Ritter’s re-election, said Democratic strategist Steve Welchert.

Penry would face former employer and ex-U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis in what many expect to be a contentious GOP primary.

“There are a whole host of business, industry and PAC folks who can tell McInnis, ‘Hey, I’m not writing him a governor’s check,’ ” Welchert said…

“I’ve spent the last two years raising money for every Republican in Colorado except for myself,” Penry said. “It’s not going to be a huge transfer, if there’s a transfer.”

…The state allows a senator or representative to transfer up to $19,080 to a statewide race, but it means the state party can give that much less to the candidate.

There’s not a thing wrong with what Penry’s doing, although we seriously doubt that the people who gave at these ‘Senate fundraisers’ had any delusions about where the money would ultimately wind up. The fact is, the law allows funds raised for one state office to be transferred to a campaign for another state office, subject to limits described above–he’d be a fool not to max that out. Opponent Scott McInnis, on the other hand, cannot transfer his remaining federal campaign funds to his state campaign.

“If there’s a transfer”–good save there, Senator.

Trying to keep his name in the papers (unaccompanied by the word “gaffe,” that is) while Penry’s impending announcement sucks up all the oxygen this week, McInnis sent out a list of early endorsers yesterday, including such heavy hitters as Phil Anschutz, Pete Coors, Ben “Nighthorse” Campbell and former Colorado First Lady Frances Owens. His release after the jump–says McInnis, “These men and women are a cross-section of well-respected leaders in business and in their local communities, and their public support sends a strong signal of the momentum we’re building every day.”

It would be interesting to know how many of them were at one of Penry’s ‘Senate’ parties too…

SCOTT MCINNIS ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF ENDORSEMENTS IN RACE FOR GOVERNOR

Business and Community Leaders Express Public Support For Restoring Experience, Leadership, Vision and Common-Sense Results to Governor’s Office

(DENVER) – Saying the group is the first in a series of supporters to be announced, Scott McInnis, candidate for Colorado Governor, this morning unveiled a list of 36 prominent Colorado business leaders, philanthropists and community leaders who are supporting his candidacy.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this initial list of leading citizens who have come on board our campaign to get Colorado back on the right track,” Scott said. “These men and women are a cross-section of well-respected leaders in business and in their local communities, and their public support sends a strong signal of the momentum we’re building every day.”

Scott said leaders in every corner of Colorado are responding to his positive message of filling the current leadership gap in the Governor’s Office with a strong vision backed up by solid experience and a record of delivering results for Colorado.

This statewide list comes on the heels of a list of hundreds of leaders from Mesa County who publicly endorsed Scott in a newspaper advertisement in the Grand Junction Sentinel this morning.

The first list of statewide endorsements includes*:

Christian P. Anschutz – Managing Partner, Western Development Group, LLC

Gregory B. Maffei – President & CEO, Liberty Media Corp.

Stephen Foster – President, Business Controls Inc.

Blair E. Richardson – Managing Partner, Bow River Capital Partners

David McReynolds – Founder & President, Columbine Health Plan

William B. Vollbracht – Chairman, Land Title Guarantee Company

Mort Marks – Columnist, Villager Newspaper

Michael T. Fries – President & CEO, Liberty Global, Inc

James B. Wallace – Partner, Brownlie, Wallace & Armstrong Exploration

Peter Dea – President & CEO, Cirque Resources

Tim Travis – CEO, Eaton Metal Products Co.LLC

Robert S. Boswell – Chairman & CEO, Laramie Energy LL

Leslie Vollbracht – Philanthropist

Joan Allard – Community Volunteer

Collis Chandler – Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Northern Reg GeoResources, Inc.

Troy Eid – Partner- Greenberg Traurig, LLP, former United States Attorney

Linda Campbell – Entrepreneur & Businesswoman

Phil Greenblatt – Partner, Deloitte & Touche

Sharon Magness-Blake – Philanthropist

Ernie Blake – Former Mayor of Breckenridge

Pete Coors

Frances Owens – Executive VP for Community Affairs, Galloway Group

Robert L. Manning, Jr. – Managing Director, M2P Capital LLC

Andy Miller – President & CEO, Sevo Miller

Doug Moreland – President & CEO, Moreland Dealerships

Jo Greenblatt – Entrepreneur & Businesswoman

Bryant Martin – President & CEO, Nexcap Ltd.

Bob Arciniaga – Managing Partner Advisory Board Architects

Ben Nighthorse Campbell- Former United States Senator

Greg C. Stevinson – President, Denver West Realty, Inc.

Edie Marks- Realtor Kentwood Company

Tony Mayer- Captiva Resources, Inc.

Barry Craddock- Principal, Craddock Properties & Craddock Development

Roger Hutson -President & CEO HRM Resources, LLC

Philip Anschutz – Chairman & CEO, The Anschutz Corporation

Carl Koelbel- Real Estate & Finance Student Leeds M.B.A. Program

*Affiliations listed are for identification purposes only