Who wants to be the light governor?

So who wants to run for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket? Any takers? Line forms to the right . . . Hey, where did everybody go?

University of Utah

Joe Rogers wasn't the best matched second-in-command to former Gov. Bill Owens. Colorado voters changed the selection process for lieutenant governors in 2000.

The candidate winning the Aug. 10 primary is expected to be so far down in the polls he may have to pick his running-mate the way the sergeant picks a “volunteer” in the Army: Pointing his finger at a hapless recruit and announcing, “You.”

Until 10 years ago, second-banana candidates were picked separately at party conventions. But that led to so many mismatches and bad working relationships - can you say Bill Owens and Joe Rogers in the same sentence? - that the voters changed the constitution in 2000 and authorized the gubernatorial candidate to pick his own.

As of this writing, the only candidate who has a running-mate in place is the newest one, Tom Tancredo of the American Constitution Party.

He’s Douglas Campbell, who had been previously selected by the outgoing ACP gubernatorial hopeful, Ben Goss.

Which doesn’t mean that he’ll stay on the ticket. “We’ll have to see what Tom’s preferences are,” Campbell said. “If he wants to put up with me for another 90 days, that’s OK. If he wants to make a different choice I will step aside.”

But given his druthers, “I would be very excited to stay on the ticket.”

We could find out as early as Thursday, when Tancredo is expected to take his second bite of the “I’m running for governor” apple at a news conference.

But usually the announcement is made separately. Candidates have until seven days after the Aug. 10 primary to make their selection. The secretary of state would love it if they made their picks earlier, especially if their choice is already on the ballot running for the legislature or some other office. Your name can only appear once on the ballot and your successor for the original job has to be selected.

Campbell, a perennial ACP candidate, uses the nickname “Dayhorse” on the ballot so you don’t mix him up with former Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, another famous party switcher.

“Dayhorse” recalled running for secretary of state a couple of times in the 1990s, three times for the U.S. Senate and once for University of Colorado regent at large. He’s also run a couple of issue campaigns related to petition rights.

He described himself as “basically retired” and “if the opportunity comes up I tell people what I should have done to have a better retirement.”

It will be hard for Tancredo to pick a high-profile running-mate unless he can find another conservative willing to give up his or her Republican registration.

Neither of the two Republican candidates, Scott McInnis or Dan Maes, has given any hint as to whom he might choose. But a Maes spokeswoman said “a couple of people” will be interviewed next week.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, the only Democratic candidate, hasn’t announced a choice yet either.

The good thing about losing a political race is that you can usually resume whatever you were doing in real life.

But McInnis, should he lose next month or in November, might have an extra hurdle in picking up his law practice.

That’s because his $300,000 “musings on water” written for the Hasan Family Foundation were partly plagiarized.

Lawyers are subject to supervision by the Colorado Supreme Court, which enforces discipline through the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel.

Mosts of the complaints it receives are from disgruntled clients who don’t like the representation they got. But certainly not all.

“We have rules of professional conduct that directly address the attorney-client relationship but we also have rules that address personal conduct -- any conduct that violates laws of Colorado or of the US,” said James C. Coyle, chief deputy in the office. “And we have jurisdiction over any conduct that involves dishonesty, misrepresentation or deceit.”

Plagiarism would fall in that category, although Coyle could recall no such case in his group’s history. The only plagiarism case he’s ever heard of involving a lawyer’s “dishonesty in writing” came out of Illinois.

A complaint can be filed by any citizen. It wouldn’t have to be by the Hasan Family Foundation, which paid McInnis for his work (and claimed not to know it had been largely ghostwritten). Nor would it have to be by Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs, whose 1984 work it was that McInnis (or his ghostwriter) borrowed without credit.

At least one complaint has been filed - by liberal litigation group Colorado Ethics Watch. CEW usually pursues campaign finance complaints against conservative causes and candidates, but publicly announced recently it was in contact with Coyle’s office regarding McInnis’ law license.

You rarely hear about the disciplinary action, if any, taken by the high court after the case winds through a tortuous process. Only the more serious punishments, such as public censure, suspension or disbarment, are released.

Beyond the high court, McInnis might be in trouble with his own law firm, Hogan Lovells, which he joined the day after he left Congress in January 2005. It can’t be happy with the publicity. But managing partner Cole Finegan declined to comment beyond noting that McInnis took an unpaid leave of absence starting last Jan. 1.

Peter Blake writes Thursdays on Face The State. E-mail him at peterblake@facethestate.com.