A press release issued by State Sen. Ted Harvey's campaign for congress claims Secretary of State Mike Coffman, also vying for the 6th congressional district GOP nomination, will petition onto the August primary ballot, bypassing May's nominating convention. Harvey's camp says Coffman is abandoning the grassroots, but does it matter how a candidate makes the ballot?
How's a candidate to prove his grassroots street cred in a solidly Republican district?
Harvey (L), and CoffmanState of Colo.
Harvey's campaign manager, Jon Hotaling, doesn't claim to have mind-reading powers, but he says his volunteers' "exensive canvassing" indicates a strong base of support. He's confident about his candidate's prospects at the county conventions that generate delegations to the congressional convention on May 17. So it's understandable he's spoiling for a good fight at the nominating convention, with Coffman being the lone holdout in announcing a decision on ballot access. Other GOP contenders, businessman Will Armstrong and State Sen. Steve Ward, have both indicated their intent to petition on to the primary ballot.
Coffman campaign manager Dustin Zvonek says his campaign is holding off on a decision until the Secretary's calendar for March and April are fleshed out. "With the legislature and the governor and the situation going on with how we're actually going to have elections, we don't know how busy Mike is going to be around April," he said. "We're talking to the grassroots all the time in hopes that we can go [the convention] route."
Hotaling sees Coffman's wavering as a lack of respect for the party faithful who have campaigned hard for the former State Senator and Treasurer's two statewide campaigns. "He should be explaining to all these activists who have worked tirelessly over the years on two statewide campaigns why he is now not going to go through the caucus process," he said. "The reason why all these candidates are petitioning on is because they know Ted Harvey has the majority of grassroots support in this race."
For his part, Zvonek says he's unfazed by the issue, invoking the campaign's poll numbers to make his case: "Maybe [Harvey is] singling us out because of our 36 point lead."
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo announced last year he would not seek re-election, creating the open seat. With and a strong Republican voter registration advantage in the district, this primary will come down to the wire, regardless of how the candidates make the ballot.