Odd numbered years may be political snoozers in most states. But not Colorado. Not this year. And the Republican candidates for Governor are wading into some of the hottest off-year issues in a bid to claim their share of credit should the efforts be victorious.

After the historic recall elections of State Senators John Morse and Angela Giron for pushing Bloomberg-backed gun control, Senator Evie Hudak is now facing her own ouster. State Senator Greg Brophy, who led the fight against the gun bills in the Legislature, has firmly affixed himself to the Hudak recall effort. He even donned one of their T-shirts during a recent stop at recall organizer’s headquarters.

Yesterday, Secretary of State Scott Gessler oddly declared his gubernatorial campaign “suspended” to focus on the pivotal Douglas County school board elections, which our readers are well aware is a critical fight in education reform.

The school board issue has been a longtime fight against the unions angry they are no longer receiving taxpayer dollars to subsidize their staff not in the classroom. But it’s a race near and dear to a lot of conservatives’ hearts in Colorado, which makes it an appealing association for primary candidates like Gessler.

Former Congressman Tom Tancredo is focusing his energy on the billion dollar tax hike, Amendment 66, with a creative spoof of the ballot measure, which he dubs “Hickenlooper’s Monster.” When it comes to Republican primary campaigns, is there a better issue to oppose than a union-backed billion dollar tax hike?

Amendment 66 has raised a ton of money and, most recently, hackles, when it came out that NYC Mayor Bloomberg had thrown a million dollars behind the measure. If you haven’t seen Tancredo’s 66 parody, check it out after the jump: