Fundraising: Underfunded Dan Maes, Cleve Tidwell, Andrew Romanoff trying to make history

Republican politicians who’ve been around for almost 35 years cannot remember any candidate for governor or the U.S. Senate who began the election year with almost no money and won their nominations.

Gubernatorial candidate, Dan Maes, and U.S. Senate candidate, Cleve Tidwell, entered 2010  with 

virtually no money in their campaign coffers. Both Republicans have spent the last eight to ten months traveling the state campaigning. But despite his efforts, Maes has raised less than $20,000, and Tidwell claims he is only now ramping up his fundraising efforts. If either man is nominated or elected, he will make history.

Interviews with more than a half dozen former legislators, consultants, political science scholars and campaign managers failed find anyone who can remember a GOP candidate who started out as underfunded as Maes and Tidwell are and won the party’s nomination, much less the general election.

 

There is no way Dan Maes can win, former U.S. Rep. told me after a recent R Block meeting in Littleton. “You can quote me!” Tancredo’s backing Scott McInnis for governor.

 

Candidates cannot win a race in Colorado statewide without the financial resources, Dick Wadhams, Colorado Republican Party Chairman, told the Arapahoe County Republican Men’s Club this morning.

The key is to raise the $6 million to $8 million needed to win a statewide race for governor or senator. A well-funded candidate  like a Jane Norton or a Scott McInnis doesn’t have to win the fund raising derby. They just have to have enough to get the job done, Wadhams said. Former Senator Wayne Allard was outspent in both of his races, and former Governor Bill Owens was outspent in 1998, he noted.

Democrat U.S. Senate candidate, Andrew Romanoff, has raised a fairly respectable amount of money for his campaign, but he’s badly trailing appointed Democrat Senator Michael Bennet in fundraising. And he’s not likely to raise much money from the Democrat establishment. This suggests he will have a hard time trying to raise enough to give Bennet a strong primary race.

 

But Wadhams said he disagrees with me on this. He thinks Romanoff can be a dangerous opponent for Bennet. This is because activist Democrats are mad at Governor Bill Ritter for appointing Bennet to the Senate instead of Romanoff. The activists want to send a message to Ritter and Bennet, Wadhams said.

 

J.J. Ament, a Republican candidate for state Treasurer, said in an interview this morning that no candidate who has skipped the precinct caucuses, county assemblies and state party conventions has won a general election in Colorado. 

1. Our two sitting Republican members of Congress might disagree with JJ on his point.
   That being said JJ Ament for Treasurer!!!

   Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)  on  02/05/2010  at  01:30 PM

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