Dan Maes Wins Colorado Gov. Primary
Dan Maes has won the GOP nomination to run for governor of Colorado:
DENVER — Entrepreneur Dan Maes cashed in his support from tea party patriot groups to narrowly defeat former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis in Colorado's GOP gubernatorial primary, sending a message to state Republicans that the movement is a force they must reckon with.
Maes' victory in Tuesday's primary came after both he and McInnis sent supporters home as the vote count dragged on. With the count all but complete, Maes led by a 51-49 percent margin.
"This campaign was not conceived in a smoke-filled room of the Brown Palace Hotel. Nor was it conceived by the power brokers in the Republican Party. This campaign began in your backyards," Maes told supporters before his victory was official. The Brown Palace is a Denver landmark.
McInnis spokesman Sean Duffy cited a bitter campaign in which McInnis faced plagiarism claims for the close contest.
"Obviously he had the equivalent of the kitchen sink and two pianos chucked at him," Duffy said.
Maes faces Democrat John Hickenlooper, the Denver mayor, and American Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo in the general election. Tea party groups made it clear that Tancredo, a former congressman known for his tough stand on illegal immigration, would not get their support when he bolted from the GOP.
Tancredo claimed neither Maes nor McInnis could defeat Hickenlooper, and he's already aired advertisements assailing Hickenlooper as soft on illegal immigration.
Pat Conroy, a supporter of the 9-12 patriot group from Lafayette, said Maes' showing was a tribute to the tea party movement.
"What us tea partiers would like is a little respect. We are the masses," Conroy said.
Maes, an Evergreen businessman and political novice, worked tea party and conservative groups hard for months. His effort bore fruit when he edged McInnis for top billing at the state Republican assembly in May.
Maes said tea party core values of limited government, fiscal responsibility, free enterprise, religious freedom, the value of life, family values and freedom of education fit like a glove with his own.
"My campaign and the birth of the party happened simultaneously," he said.
