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Declaring that he would have won, but just didn’t want to put up with all the second-guessing and backstabbing, Colorado GOP Chair Dick Wadhams today told Fox 31 he is not running for another term. “It’s just time to move on,” Wadhams said. “I’m excited about doing something new this election cycle; and, frankly, I just got tired of the people who see a conspiracy behind everything we do, people who don’t have any clue what the role of the state party really is.”

Anti-abortion group rips state GOP chairman By Lynn Bartels Tuesday, June 17, 2008 A Colorado anti-abortion group that wasn't allowed to set up a display table at the state Republican convention blasted party chairman Dick Wadhams on Monday, saying he is trying to drag the party "to the left." Colorado Right to Life President Joe Riccobono warned Republicans that by shunning their conservative base, they're headed for "another election catastrophe in November." "Wadhams has moved U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer to the liberal middle and he's trying to drag the Colorado GOP to the left," said a news release from...

Record turnout expected as interest builds. Colorado is bracing for possible record turnouts in the Feb. 5 presidential caucuses, as state voters get swept up in the country's election fever. Republican Mort Marks, 83, plans to hold a caucus at his house. He said he has received calls from a lot of people he hasn't heard from before, and he has noticed larger turnout at recent Republican events. "There is a hell of a lot more interest than I've seen in many, many years," said Marks, who hasn't decided which GOP candidate he will support... GOP and Democratic Party officials...

Former Delta County commissioner to try to unseat Salazar for House seat instead. Delta County Commissioner Wayne Wolf has dropped his longshot bid to become a U.S. senator and now is seeking the Republican nomination in the 3rd Congressional District. Wolf said his decision to try to defeat U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, has received "plenty of support" on the Western Slope and in southern Colorado. That's a much different response than he received this fall when he said he intended to challenge Bob Schaffer for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate. Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican...

At the behest of the Mesa County Republican Party, the Colorado Republican Party voted to censure its attorney, John Zakhem, for making a contribution to incumbent Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction. Zakhem, whose law firm, Zakhem Atherton, represents the Colorado Republican Party, said he was surprised to hear about the central committee’s vote to censure him. Nonetheless, he said he was happy to hear a motion to terminate his service with the party... was defeated in a voice vote. Zakhem’s Aug. 28 donation of $400 to Buescher’s re-election campaign sparked outrage among the ranks of the Mesa County Republican Party...

Republicans themselves brought on the whipping they suffered in the 2006 elections, Colorado state GOP chairman Dick Wadahms said in appearances in Montana. "I don't think Democrats really won the 2006 elections," said Wadhams, who spoke to the Montana Republican Party convention ... "They were just standing there. We didn't deserve to win in 2006." Wadhams is a former campaign director and staff member for Conrad Burns, who represented Montana... Republicans lost in 2006 because they forfeited their claim to fiscal responsibility, "mishandled the ethical lapses" ... Wadhams, 51, has won more campaigns than he's lost, but he lost a...

The state Republican Party is hurting for cash. Federal financial disclosures as of April 30 showed the party was $261,907 in debt. A filing with the secretary of state a month earlier showed $11,310.51 in the bank. Republican insiders said party officials are trying to renegotiate payment on contracts and searching for cheaper offices. New party chairman Dick Wadhams acknowledged that he inherited debt when he took office in March ... But reconnecting with the party's activist base and with state lawmakers after back-to-back legislative defeats was his first task. Since March, he has made 60 speeches to rally the...

A year ago, Dick Wadhams never thought he’d be back in Colorado full time trying to resurrect the state Republican Party. Wadhams, the silver-tongued Las Animas native who has led upset campaigns across the country, expected to be getting Virginia Sen. George Allen prepped for his presidential run. That was before Allen made his infamous “macaca” remark amid what should have been an easy reelection bid, and suddenly both he and Wadhams, his press secretary, found themselves out of their jobs. One week after that debacle, Wadhams fielded a call from Colorado Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, who suggested that...

[SNIP] Can Wadhams take Allen from a little-known senator to a spot on the national ticket? It's a gamble, for sure: Even some Republicans snicker at Allen's tendency to turn every thought into a football metaphor (primaries are "intersquad scrimmages"; Senate recess is "halftime"). Questions about whether Allen is smart enough to be president are sure to dog a potential bid. And Wadhams has never run a national campaign before—or for that matter, a campaign outside a red state. The Republican presidential primary will be crowded, which means that his reflexive go-negative strategy could be risky: Voters who are turned...

THE VIRGINIAN Very quietly, some Republicans with eyes on standing in four years where President George W. Bush stands today are already beginning to lay the groundwork for 2008. Some are being more aggressive than others. Some are showing the good sense simply to sit back and enjoy the inaugural events before kicking into high gear. One of the eager beavers -- and an early favorite -- is Sen. George Allen. Allen has the advantage of running for Senate re-election in 2006, so a campaign team may already be in place. One critical addition was the announcement that GOP strategist,...