PACE PUBLIC PEE BLACKOUT OVER: GJ Sentinel Drops Urination Bomb On Pueblo Democrat

Published on September 18, 2012 by

Nearly a year after we broke the news of Congressional candidate Sal Pace’s second arrest for public urination, a mainstream media publication has finally acknowledged the criminal act in print.

In an article about Pace’s meeting with the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel’s editorial board, Gary Harmon touches on Pace’s biggest Google problem.

Sal Pace, the Democratic challenger to Republican Rep. Scott Tipton, painted himself as a maverick unafraid to defy his own party leaders.

Pace also told The Daily Sentinel editorial board Monday he regretted two incidents when he was younger.

Pace, twice, was charged with public urination: once as a Fort Lewis College student in Durango and, more recently, in downtown Denver in 2003, when he was working as a staffer on a campaign against Referendum A, which was to build unspecified water projects around the state.

“The hardest part was telling my parents and some day I’m going to have to explain it to my kids,” Pace said.

As the Sentinel is one of the biggest publications in the conservative 3rd Congressional District, you can be sure more than a few folks will be learning of this incident through today’s paper. That is, if they hadn’t tried to type Sal Pace’s name into Google, only to have the first auto-suggestion be “sal pace criminal record.”

As we noted last week, the CD3 race is increasingly becoming a lock for incumbent Republican Congressman Scott Tipton. Outside groups haven’t been spending money, Pace recently lost his Communications Director and overall the race seems to be drifting away from competitive territory.

Even if Pace were doing better, this race would not be leaning in Pace’s favor with his full criminal record reaching print for the first time less than 50 days out from the election. Maybe Pace should have addressed this last year.

 

WHY PACE HATES PEAK: First Google Auto Suggest Result For Sal Pace Is “Sal Pace Criminal Record”

Published on August 13, 2012 by

If you're a regular reader of this site you know liberals hate us. Loathe us. Despise our very existence. That's because we're bringing the fight to where liberals have long reigned in Colorado — the internets. No longer. Democrat Congressional candidate and State Rep. Sal Pace (D-Urination) illustrates exactly how much impact we're having.

When you type in "Sal Pace" in a Google search the first thing Google suggests is "sal pace criminal record." See the image below for the damage done in all its glory:

If you're not familiar with the story, last September we at Colorado Peak Politics broke the news that Pace had a long and embarrassing criminal record that invited comparisons to disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner. 

What we turned up in our investigation turned out to be far more than the arrests in college turned up by The Denver Post in 2010 when he was running for a safe State House seat in Pueblo.

We found not one, but two(!), arrests for public urination, including a time when Pace was arrested on 700 E. Colfax for public urination — mere blocks from the Capitol where Pace was working as a legislative staffer at the time.

From felony burglary to bench warrants for his arrest, Pace didn't exactly have the record most candidates like to run on in competitive Congressional elections.

Now, it seems, the internet has picked up with our reporting and run with it, even as the mainstream media has still refused to report on it.

With increasing amounts of Coloradans voting by mail, and usually Googling candidates names before making their selection, Pace must really hate the Peak right about now. We wouldn't have it any other way.  


 

NRCC RESERVES $18M IN AIR TIME: Denver Media Market Third Largest Recipient Of Massive Ad Buy

Published on June 13, 2012 by

The National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) independent expenditure arm has reserved over $18 million for advertising after Labor Day, according to Roll Call, with the Denver media market the third largest recipient of NRCC cash. In total $1.64 million has been put down for ads in the Denver market, which reaches into the three most competitive Congressional races in Colorado — Congressional districts 3, 6 and 7.

The Denver media market only reaches part of the 3rd Congressional District, where Congressman Scott Tipton is facing a challenge from State Rep. Sal Pace (D-Urination), meaning the bulk of the ad buys are likely targeted at the 6th and 7th Congressional districts. We won't know what races are getting what part of the ad buy until the spots themselves are created later on this year. 

CD6 should technically be a competitive district based on voter registration alone after redistricting, but Democrat challenger Joe Miklosi has been a weak candidate, raising less money per quarter than any other targeted race in the country. His campaign thus far has been pathetic, taking weeks to capitalize on Coffman's Obama comments and facing a back pay complaint from the campaign's former finance director. Due to that, we're betting a good portion of the NRCC money will be spent on taking down Ed Perlmutter in CD7. 

In CD7, Congressman Ed Perlmutter is facing a stiffer than expected challenge from former CoorsTek CEO Joe Coors Jr. Coors's campaign has already dropped $400,000 on two introductory ads. Perlmutter has yet to go up on TV. The Roll Call article says the CD7 race is "less competitive" at this point, most likely due to the conventional wisdom about Perlmutter's relative political safety after his 11-point trouncing of Ryan Frazier in 2010. But the district became much more Republican after redistricting. Additionally, Coors reached the highest level of the NRCC's candidate support program, Young Guns, three months before Frazier did, leading some observers (like us) to believe the CD7 race will be much more competitive this time around.

In April, the NRCC's Democrat counterpart, the DCCC, reserved $2.5 million in ad time in the Denver media market. The DCCC's deputy executive director told The Colorado Observer that some of the money is likely to go into defending Perlmutter's seat. 

The NRCC's ad reservations continue a trend begun by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which reserved $25 million in ad time for the fall back in early April. Party committees have been reserving large blocks of ad time this early on to get better rates. With the expected competition of Super PACs and the presidential campaigns, the cost of advertising is likely to skyrocket in the fall, leading the parties to lock in better rates now.

This latest news only confirms what we already knew — this fall your TV (and YouTube, Facebook, Twitter) will be blanketed with political ads. It's shaping up to be the most expensive election in state and national history. 


 

URINATION WATCH: Sal Pace And Mark Ferrandino On The Talking Point Of Pee

Published on March 23, 2012 by

If you were a Congressional candidate with a long and storied criminal record for public urination, you would think that you would avoid mentioning the bathroom in news stories. Not Sal Pace. In a Denver Post story today about trackers following Congressional candidates, Sal Pace complains his tracker follows him down the hall to the bathroom.

According to our sources, that's a complete fabrication. The tracker has never followed Pace to the bathroom.

But considering Pace has been arrested twice for public urination, including only blocks from the state Capitol in 2003, it would seem entirely reasonable to see if Pace relieves himself inappropriately. 

Adding to the seeming urine-fest at the Capitol today was none other than Pace's replacement as House Minority Leader, Mark Ferrandino.

During a bill to require drug testing for recipients of welfare, Ferrandino added an amendment to require drug testing of all statewide elected officials and legislators as well. 

In trying to be cute about his amendment, even though he and all Democrats voted against the legislation, Ferrandino passed out urine sample cups with the face of every member of the Appropriations Committee on them.

Let it be known — we fully support Ferrandino's amendment. We'd love to know what Joe Miklosi was smoking when he tried to add motorcycle gangs to the list of protected classes in Colorado. 

With all of this talk about urine, maybe, just maybe, someone in the mainstream media will finally cover the full extent of Sal Pace's infamous criminal career. 

For inquiring minds, here are the original arrest and court records for Pace's Pee Spree. 


 

Sal Pace’s Criminal Record Blacked Out by Grand Junction Daily Sentinel

Published on March 23, 2012 by

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the once laudable newspaper of record in Grand Junction and surrounding Western Slope communities, is gradually losing credibility as an objective, trustworthy news source.  The character of the Daily Sentinel has become more liberal since it changed ownership, and the current staff appear unresponsive to letters to the editor which call for unbiased reporting of important events and issues. 

Some writers on the staff at the Sentinel, such as Bill Grant and Denny Herzog, are unabashedly biased toward the Left, and often use inflammatory rhetoric when referring to Conservatives or conservatively-oriented topics. One of the most blatant pieces of evidence of this bias is the virtual blackout on the part of the Sentinel of any stories, or letters to the editor, that reveal the extensive criminal record of the Democrat candidate for Colorado Congressional District 3 (CD3), Sal Pace.  

Sal Pace, a Liberal Democrat fro Pueblo and former minority leader in the Colorado House, has an extensive criminal record which would make him the posterior of every political joke in Western Colorado, if the Daily Sentinel would actually print the truth about him. But it appears that the biased omission of Pace's criminal past is as much a plan to help him beat Scott Tipton in the Fall, as it is a case of journalistic selective mutism.

For starters: Pace has an extensive criminal driving record which includes:

  • Driving without a valid license
  • Driving under restraint
  • Driving without proof of insurance
  • Expired license plates
  • Suspended license plates

His arrest record goes beyond the minor traffic issues, to bizarre and seemingly incorrigible, behavior.

If this record was attached to the name of any conservative or Republican candidate in CD3, you can bet that it would be daily news in the Daily Sentinel. Any observant student of the inner workings of the press knows that there is bias, but journalistic malpractice on the part of the political staff at the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel has turned a once revered news source into a laughable bird cage liner.

When will the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel begin to dissect the dicey past of Sal Pace? When will they print letters to the editor that point to the glaring defects of the Democrat candidate for CD3? Who knows. In the meantime, Americans are increasingly turning to online sources, blogs and news websites, for their breaking news and information. The print media, such as the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, still has its value, in the bird cage, or the puppy potty corner.

 

 


 

TRANSPARENT BS: Sal Pace Loves Him Some Sunshine, Except On His Extensive Criminal Record

Published on March 22, 2012 by

On Sunday, Charles Ashby of the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel wrote up a piece on Colorado's less-than-stellar record on ethics and openness in government. A report by the Center for Public Integrity, Public Radio International and Global Integrity gave Colorado a miserable D+ in ethics. 

In the article, Congressional candidate and state Rep. Sal Pace (D-Urination) was quoted praising Colorado's transparency laws, despite Pace's own struggles with ethics in government and transparency regarding his own extensive criminal record. 

Pace's quote:

“There are strong transparency laws on the books in Colorado,” Pace said. “Sunshine laws require public notice for meetings and require open records for elected officials’ calendars and correspondence. The public holds awesome power, if they choose to utilize it, to keep their elected officials honest.”

Does Pace actually think he can just paper over his own embarrassing past with Common Cause platitudes?

Remember, this is the same politician who received a taxpayer funded bonus of almost $7,000 for working on the political campaign of then-Congressman John Salazar. How's that for ethics in government?

It's also the same political candidate who has a criminal record of two public urination arrests, a bench warrant for failure to appear on the second public urination arrest and a charge of felony burglary to boot. 

In order to help Pace out with the idea of transparency in government, click here to see the police and court records of Pace's past brushes with the law.

Since we uncovered the felony charge, the second public urination arrest and some driving record charges last September, Pace has yet to discuss his criminal record on the record.

If you believe so much in transparency, Rep. Pace, why don't you discuss how your bad judgment in the past will make you a better member of Congress?

(Photo Credit: Peoples Press Collective)


 

TEMPER, TEMPER: Sal Pace’s Inability To Control Himself Will Kill His Congressional Campaign

Published on February 14, 2012 by

State Rep and CD3 Congressional candidate Sal Pace (D-Urination) lost control of himself last week, again. Readers of this site are well aware of Pace's struggles with controlling basic bodily functions, but last week it wasn't his bladder, but his temper. In attempting to argue for half a million dollars to create an unnecessary parking lot in his district, Pace lost control and started shouting at his opponents from the state House floor.

WhoSaidYouSaid has the video here. Pace's temper starts to flare at 1:43:

As Representative Gerou (R-Evergreen) helpfully points out before Pace loses his mind, the building Pace is hopping mad to see razed into a parking lot isn't even on the list of local priorities for the next five years, according to the state architect.

Rep. Gerou might know something about building management, considering she is an award winning architect herself. 

You see, Pace is getting all riled up because the State Fair people wanted the extra parking space and the same State Fair bigwigs can be very helpful to Pace's other day job, running for Congress in the the 3rd CD.

Now razing a building to create a parking lot isn't going to create a whole lot of jobs, but it will help Pace cozy up to some wealthy patrons for his next potential job.

In then end, though, it won’t matter how many political patrons he does favors for if he can’t control himself in public. Because speeches like this end up looking really bad in opposition attack ads.  

 

SHAFFER FOLDS: After Pressure From Left, Senate President Backs Off CD6 Race

Published on February 3, 2012 by

Senate President Brandon Shaffer has ended his CD6 striptease. After weeks of speculation, which began on this blog in December, Shaffer has formally announced he won't be running in the more competitive CD6, and instead will stay in the impossible-to-win CD4 race.

Shaffer's announcement that he will stick with CD4 brings to an end a long stretch of brutal and damaging process stories that undermined the current CD6 candidates and exposed Shaffer as a politician more concerned with his own ambition than representing a specific community in Congress.

Days after calling the Peak a liar in an interview with the Colorado Statesman regarding our reporting that he was looking at CD6, The Denver Post reported Shaffer was polling in CD6. News that Shaffer was looking at moving races was not met kindly by current CD6 candidate, Democrat state Rep. Joe Miklosi (D-Denver), whose campaign pushed back hard against Shaffer's potential entry. 

Miklosi's campaign consultant, Steve Welchert, even went so far as to invoke Shaffer's wife and kids as a reason to not move races. 

Shaffer's race jumping adventure also invoked the ire of liberal activists in CD4. One liberal blogger who runs a site dedicated to attacking CD4 Congressman Cory Gardner had this to say about Shaffer's potential switch to the CD6 race:

For my money, [Shaffer has] lost a lot of credibility through this decision that shows his lack of loyalty to his supporters in the 4th. If Shaffer has that little loyalty to the people in the District he currently lives in, I would hate to imagine how “loyal” he would be to the people of the 6th, should he decide to switch races.

Burn! When even liberals who are dedicated to attacking your opponent are instead training their fire on you, you know you've royally screwed up.

Shaffer's exit from the candidate pool leaves only one better funded Democrat for Miklosi to beat now in the CD6 Democrat primary. Currently, the two declared Democrat candidates for CD6 are Miklosi and Dr. Perry "Massage Therapist Millionaire" Haney. Haney has donated or lent $421,000 to his own campaign, but managed to raise only $16,000 from other people in all of 2011.

Regardless of where the money came from, Haney now holds a decisive 2:1 advantage in cash on hand compared to Miklosi.

Miklosi, meanwhile, has been the worst Congressional fundraiser in Colorado this cycle, pulling in only $104,000 in the 4th quarter, despite seeing a 30-point swing towards Democrats during the redistricting process that was finalized late last year. 

With Shaffer firmly in the 4th, and Miklosi and Haney battling it out for the right to lose to Mike Coffman in the 6th, Democrats have pretty much left themselves with only one potential race to win — the 3rd Congressional district.

Unfortunately for Democrats, while their candidate is raising good money, he's got a long and illustrious criminal rap sheet, a voting record supporting over a billion dollars in tax increases, and took a taxpayer funded bonus for working on the political campaign of then-Congressman John Salazar.

That's not a recipe for success in any district, let alone the conservative 3rd CD. 


 

DEMS DITCHING DAY JOBS: Three State Reps Miss Votes To Go To Obama Campaign Event

Published on January 27, 2012 by

It's becoming a trend now. After state Rep. Sal Pace (D-Urination) ditched his taxpayer funded day job at the Legislature to go to Obama's State of the Union, yesterday three more Democrat state Reps missed votes at the Capitol to attend the Obama campaign event at Buckley Air Force Base.

State Representatives Todd, Williams and Ryden were all missing for committee votes yesterday, including important bills for Todd and Williams.

In case of unintended irony, Representative Nancy Todd (D-Aurora) missed a vote on designating 9/11 as Patriot Day to spend the afternoon at a political event at a military base. 

Representative Angela Williams (D-Aurora) missed votes on a bill to help cottage industry food producers, the so-called "Cake Bill", and a bill to keep business regulations the same for businesses throughout the application process, known as the CLEAR Act. 

Representative Su Ryden (D-Aurora) missed a vote on a technical bill.

The great irony of this entire situation is Democrats spent yesterday morning whining to reporters about Republicans holding a press conference at the Capitol to respond to Obama's taxpayer funded campaign trip. Not only was the titular head of their party here on the taxpayer's dime, but their own state legislators couldn't be bothered to even show up for votes — you know…the job they were elected to do.  

Will this be a regular occurrence over the legislative session? Will Democrats ditch their day jobs at the Capitol every time Obama makes a campaign speech in Colorado? If they're just going to be props in a political campaign, maybe Obama's re-elect should be paying their salaries, not the taxpayers of Colorado. 

(Nancy Todd Photo Credit: Colorado News Agency)

 

HYPOCRITICAL HYPOCRITES: Dems Denounce GOP Press Conference On Day Of Obama Political Event

Published on January 26, 2012 by

You have to give them credit. It must have taken all the strength Democrats could muster to keep a straight face while complaining about the GOP holding a press conference in the Capitol on the same day President Obama comes to town to campaign on taxpayer's dime. We hope they realize their own hypocrisy. The brief GOP event was in response to the President's multiple day campaign swing, after all. 

Dems didn't complain when one of their own, state Senator Rollie Heath (D-Boulder), held multiple events at the Capitol during his quixotic bid to raise taxes by $3 billion through Prop 103. Heck, most Democrats wouldn't even go on the record with their position on the issue, let alone denounce Heath for hosting political events at the Capitol.

The Dems even had the gall to complain about the House being recessed briefly for Representatives Szabo and Ramirez to attend the press conference. 

We'd love to hear what state Rep. Sal Pace (D-Urination) thinks about all this, but unfortunately he wasn't available for comment — because he's now missed his second full day of work at the Legislature to raise money from lobbyists in DC. Did Colorado Democrat Chairman Rick Palacio forget that when he whined to reporters?

Obama returns to Colorado today for his third campaign trip in the past few months, stopping at Buckley Air Force Base to talk about energy — but not Solyndra or the Keystone XL pipeline. He wants to talk about what poll tested well, not what his administration has actually done. 

He's here because Colorado is a swing state, and he's spending multiple days going around the country to swing states to campaign while there is plenty to be done back in Washington.

If any conversation should take place about inappropriate use of taxpayer time to engage in politics, we'd think a multiple-day campaign swing would vastly overshadow a brief press conference at the Colorado Capitol. 

But that's not what the marching orders from Nancy Pelosi to Rick Palacio said. 


 
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