Free Republic

Mike Littwin If you haven’t heard the news, let me be the one to break it to you: Hillary Clinton is definitely running for president (OK, you knew that), and the two leading contenders to be her running mate are reportedly Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Colorado’s own senator… Michael Bennet. I’m not making this up. It was right there in Politico, under the byline of Washington insider Mike Allen, who got it from people deep inside Hillaryland, where the talk is that Bennet and Kaine have the inside track. (Others mentioned: Sen. Cory Booker, HUD Secretary Julian Castro,...

A Colorado reader digests the latest early voting numbers: Dems had better get a huge turnout advantage on election day. If the election were based on the votes through yesterday afternoon, they would need to carry Independents by 65-35 to make up the difference (now, I realize that some GOP voters will go Dem, and Dem voters will go GOP, so this might not be completely accurate, but it’s close). To put this in perspective, according to the SoS numbers as of the end of October, here is what voter registration looks like: Total: 2,986,362 GOP 966,082 (32.3%) Dem: 913,246...

Colorado's governor, intensely criticized over death-row reprieve, says he'd do it again. ... Part of Hickenlooper's problem has been the ambitous liberal agenda, from gays to guns, he signed into law in 2013 after a Democratic legislative spree. Part has been his habit of thinking out loud and his seeming eagerness to please all sides of an issue; a meeting this summer with hostile sheriffs turned into a political disaster when the governor equivocated about the gun-control laws he backed, upsetting both sides. But Hickenlooper will also have someone else to blame: Nathan Dunlap. In 1993, as a 19-year-old, Dunlap...

DENVER — A final Quinnipiac University poll of likely voters shows the race for governor and the U.S. Senate seat in Colorado is too close to call with Electon Day a day away. Rep. Cory Gardner leads Sen. Mark Udall 45 percent to 43 percent, the poll, which was released Monday morning, showed, well within the 3.4 percentage point margin of error. ... In the governor’s race, a Quinnipiac poll showed Republican Bob Beauprez leading Gov. John Hickenlooper 45 percent to 43 percent. “Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper will have to count on an aggressive final hour ground game and a...

If Quninnipiac polling matches turnout, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is toast. And a catastrophically bad performance among men is at cause. Beauprez Pulls Ahead In Colorado Gov Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Republican Up 21 Points Among Men Men are going Republican in a big way in the Colorado governor’s race, giving former U. S. Rep. Bob Beauprez, the Republican challenger a 45 – 40 percent likely voter lead over Gov. John Hickenlooper, the Democratic incumbent, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Libertarian candidate Matthew Hess has 4 percent, with 2 percent for Green Party candidate Harry Hempy....

DENVER (CBS4) – A new poll out Wednesday morning from Quinnipiac University shows Republican Bob Beauprez with a lead over Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper in Colorado’s governor’s race. The poll shows Beauprez with 45 percent and Hickenlooper with 40 percent. That’s a reversal from last week when Hickenlooper led the race by 1 percent.

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. — The quiet murmur of several dozen Republican activists crammed in a small office in this Denver suburb was broken Saturday morning by a jocular cry: “Hey, everybody, what’s going on?” Rep. Cory Gardner, the party’s Senate candidate — and its best shot at breaking a decade-long losing streak in top Colorado races — burst into the room wearing a blue-checkered work shirt and jeans, and immediately began shaking hands and posing for pictures. Rick Murray, 69, a financial broker, shook his head in admiration. “You see enthusiasm like that out of anybody else?” he said. It’s...

Republican Cory Gardner has opened a four-point lead in the Colorado Senate race that’s key in determining whether Democrats can hold onto their majority... Gardner held a 50 percent to 46 percent edge on first-term Democratic Sen. Mark Udall in the survey of 665 likely voters, conducted Oct. 9-13. ... Udall is getting clobbered in the all-important suburbs, as well as in rural areas, and his lead in Colorado cities is not enough to overcome that ... Hurting Udall is an underwater favorability rating of 45 percent — with 51 percent of those surveyed saying they have an unfavorable opinion...

Democratic incumbent Mark Udall and Republican challenger Cory Gardner are locked in a statistical dead heat in the Colorado race for U.S. Senate, according to the latest Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll. The poll of likely voters in the general election shows Gardner backed by 43 percent and Udall by 42 percent, a difference that is well within the poll’s 4.4 percent margin of error. Another 10 percent of likely voters remain undecided, and four independent and third-party candidates were in low single digits. The Colorado race for governor also is neck-and-neck, with 43 percent of respondents supporting Democratic incumbent John...

Gov. John Hickenlooper's job approval ratings plunged in a new poll that shows Republican challenger Bob Beauprez beating the Democratic incumbent by 1 percentage point.

DENVER — After his worst two weeks of press this year, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is polling at just 44 percent and running neck and neck with his newly-minted Republican challenger Bob Beauprez, who won last week’s four-way GOP gubernatorial primary. The survey of 750 likely voters from Rasmussen Reports out Tuesday was conducted by phone last Wednesday and Thursday, immediately following the Tuesday night primary in which Beauprez finished ahead of Tom Tancredo and two other challengers. Eight percent of respondents in the poll are undecided, while four percent prefer another candidate. Rasmussen is regarded as a conservative polling...

DENVER — Hours before the polls closed Tuesday and Bob Beauprez was quickly declared the winner of Colorado’s GOP gubernatorial primary, he speculated that the Democratic effort to tip the race to Tom Tancredo may have backfired. A day later, it’s crystal clear that that is indeed the case

It's primary week and finally there’s some news. First, and most critically, we have our first-ever shakeup at the top of the Littwin Weekly GOP Governor’s Race Rankings. As LeBron James so ably put it, history is made to be broken. Second, John Hickenlooper apologized to a meeting of state sheriffs for hurting their feelings on guns, which came out sounding like he was apologizing for passing the gun laws. Worse (for Hick), he told the sheriffs he never talked to then-Mayor Bloomberg when, in fact, he had and, in fact, had said he had and, in fact, of course...

It’s another Tuesday and time for the latest version of the weekly Littwin GOP Guv Rankings. And the internal polls that I’ve been told about all say the same thing — that Tom Tancredo is ahead of the pack, maybe 10 points ahead. And, coincidentally, he leads the Littwin rankings, too. That shows at least two things — that Tancredo’s name value works in a four-way race and that no one else’s, to this point, does. To the rankings (last week’s ranking in parentheses): 1. (1) Tancredo. How’s he done it? Well, by avoiding debates. By refusing entreaties to get...

Colorado gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo couldn’t win a statewide race if the Democratic candidate were caught in a sexting scandal, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette’s editorial board. In a scathing editorial, the paper urged Republican primary candidates Scott Gessler and Mike Kopp — described in the editorial as capable candidates — to fall on their swords and bow out of the June 24 primary race. That would eliminate the chance for moderate Republicans to split three ways between them and former Congressman Bob Beauprez — the scenario that makes it easiest for Tancredo to win the nomination.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez snagged the endorsement of high-profile politicians this week, including winning the support of former GOP presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. “As a former governor, I can tell you that Bob Beauprez has exactly what Colorado needs to lead,” Romney wrote in an email sent to Beauprez supporters. “Bob’s unique combination of passion, drive, conservative values and experience will make him an outstanding governor.” Beauprez was the most prominent Romney surrogate in Colorado during the 2012 presidential campaign — the Republican lost the state by about 5 points to President Barack Obama —...

Former congressman and gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez is thinking seriously about joining a growing field of Republicans looking to challenge Democrat Michael Bennet for his seat in the U.S. Senate. "I'm thinking and talking to friends, trying to assess the situation," Beauprez said. "I'm in the kicking the tires phase." Beauprez, who lost the 2006 governor's race to Bill Ritter by a large margin, said he's troubled by the "direction things are headed in Washington" and the current GOP field of candidates. Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck and Aurora Councilman Ryan Frazier have already announced, but weak fundraising efforts...

Elway Dials Voters, Beauprez Hits the Road Final election push in full swing October 30th, 2006 MP3 Audio here -http://blog.beauprezforgovernor.com/2006/10/john_elway_call_1.htmlLatest poll - (Beauprez Takes the Lead, Zogby-WSJ Poll Shows) http://blog.beauprezforgovernor.com/2006/10/beauprez_takes_.htmlFort Morgan, CO - Denver Broncos legend John Elway placed a phone call Sunday to thousands of Colorado families asking them to support Bob Beauprez for Governor. "I'm calling this evening to ask you to join me in supporting my good friend Bob Beauprez to be Colorado's next Governor," said Elway. "Having been through a few close games in my career, I know what it takes to win--and Bob Beauprez has...

DENVER -- The immigration issue took center stage in the Colorado governor's race after reports that Democratic candidate Bill Ritter approved plea deals allowing legal and illegal aliens to avoid deportation during his tenure as Denver district attorney.     From 1998 to 2004, Mr. Ritter oversaw plea bargains in 152 cases that permitted defendants to plead guilty to agricultural trespass instead of more serious charges, including assault, drug trafficking and vehicle theft, that carry a penalty of mandatory deportation, according to court documents.     In one case, an attorney for Ernesto Leon Reyes, a resident alien facing deportation after being charged with...

Political crossovers are in. So, I'll make my own cross-party comparison and predict that Bob Beauprez, the GOP nominee for governor, might become this year's Harry Truman. Notwithstanding the recent Denver Post poll showing Ritter ahead 50 percent to 35 percent, this thing's not over yet. What Truman, the scrappy underdog, did to his favored challenger in 1948 could be the template for a come-from-behind Beauprez win. Ritter as a latter-day Thomas E. Dewey - imagine that. Winner or not, Battlin' Bob gets my vote for at least 10 reasons: immigration, judges, jobs, taxes, education, health care, highways, water, values...