Colorado Republicans already had a large field from which to choose their gubernatorial candidate when the party’s state assembly gathers Saturday in Boulder at Coors Events Center.
There’s Attorney General Cynthia Coffman, businessman Barry Farah, Stephen Barlock, Lew Gaiter and Greg Lopez.
And now that Walker Stapleton has chosen the assembly route after throwing out his already approved petitions because one worker was not a registered Colorado voter, he’s liable to sweep most of those candidates who have little name recognition, backing, or support, right out the door.
Stapleton is entering the state assembly with only four days to prep, but he hit the ground fast with his campaign. And with a solid lead already in the polls plus his strong popularity with conservatives, Stapleton is expected to lead in the balloting.
Before Stapleton’s entrance into the assembly arena, Coffman was the strong contender despite some earlier campaign missteps. She waited too long to enter the race, delayed her decision to get on the ballot by petition until the last minute, and then ran out of money. So she dumped the petition route and chose the assembly.
Stapleton and Coffman have both run and won statewide campaigns — he’s the treasurer, she’s the attorney general. However, Stapleton led the field, and Coffman by 13 percent, in the latest poll by Magellan Strategies.
Stapleton had 26 percent and Coffman 13 percent, while candidates going the petition route ranked much lower — Doug Robinson with 8 percent and Victor Mitchell with 5 percent.
Farah, Barlock, Gaiter and Lopez were all lumped into the “other” category, which polled a combined and total 9 percent.
Lopez has to overcome his history, which includes an incident of domestic violence that he and his wife awkwardly addressed earlier this year.
Barlock is short on funds, but hoping to ride President Trump’s coattails. He served as Trump’s campaign co-chair in Denver.
Gaiter is pursuing an unusual campaign strategy, where he refuses to discuss policy issues and really hasn’t campaigned.
Farrah is new to the campaign, he announced his intention to run for governor about about three weeks ago.
Whichever candidate wins on Saturday, they might have to face Mitchell and/or Robinson in the primary.
We wish everyone the best of luck, especially the candidates who are really serious about leading this state as governor.