ColoradoPols had a very interesting piece up today about a Congressional candidate we were the first to report on in depth back in May: Perry "Massage Therapist Millionaire" Haney. His potential candidacy was first mentioned by Congressman Steny Hoyer (D-MD) to the Denver Post editorial board, and in Chuck Plunkett's write up on the meeting, it wasn't clear whether Haney intended on running in CD3 or CD6.

Since his office is located in Greenwood Village and he currently lives in Denver, we had assumed he would run in CD6. Turns out he's focused his sights on the 3rd CD and will likely challenge Sal "The Fist" Pace in a Democrat primary.

Pols mentions the fact that he sent a mailer to CD3 delegates with a Grand Junction return address. But Pols missed a couple tell-tale signs that Haney is committed to CD3.

On his campaign Facebook page Haney only mentions visits to locations in CD3 like Pueblo, Aspen and Grand Junction. A crystal clear verification of where he intends to run came in a blog post from Sunday, where Haney hits Scott Tipton by name. You don't do that if you're not sure of who you're going to (hope to) run against. 

Guess Sal Pace is going to have to expend some of that 100k he's raised already just to make it to the Big Dance against Tipton. If he's able to make it at all.

It appears Haney is a reader of the Peak as well, as he picks up a theme about his CD3 primary opponent Sal Pace that we mentioned when Pace first declared, hitting "career politicians."

This is not a good sign for Sal Pace. In a likely GOP-leaning district with Obama atop the ticket, Pace was going to need all the campaign cash he could muster to break through and find the voters who don't like Obama but might be willing to support him. 

It will especially hurt Pace's campaign coffers, as Haney is a wealthy man capable of self-funding and pulling in large checks from medical PACs. Considering Haney donated nearly $10,000 to medical PACs himself just last cycle, we wouldn't be surprised to watch that be returned in spades. This is no primary opponent Pace can ignore or not spend vital resources combating.

Worse still for Pace is the fact that Haney is likely to hammer him with one of the prime narratives that Republicans plan on hitting Pace with — namely that he has spent his entire life in politics and lacks a basic understanding of business. Having a successful surgeon and small business owner hitting Pace for months on end for his career partisan hackery will not help Pace control his own narrative. 

It all makes you wonder why Congressman Hoyer mentioned his name as a candidate to the Denver Post at all. If Haney has the ability to damage Pace in a close race, why promote his candidacy? The answer may lie in problems with Pace's candidacy. The rumor mill has been in overdrive recently with whisperings of previous personal issues Pace has had that could derail his candidacy. We're not sure if they're true or not, but the fact that Hoyer would promote someone who is not Sal Pace has to make you wonder what DC Democrats are up to in CD3.

Pace, if he emerges at all from the CD3 Democrat primary, will emerge battered, bruised, and quite possibly broke. That is if the “Massage Therapist Millionaire” doesn’t “rub” out his campaign before then.