A quick update from the Republican state treasurer primary. From a new press release from the Walker Stapleton campaign:
Walker Stapleton, candidate for Colorado State Treasurer, will launch a grassroots statewide petition drive to earn a spot on the Republican Party primary ballot.
“I am really looking forward to starting the petition process,” Stapleton said. “This is a great chance to get out and talk to thousands of registered Republicans across the state about the need to put taxpayers first and put Colorado back on the path to fiscal discipline.”
Stapleton said his campaign will be out at major events statewide throughout the spring collecting signatures.
“We’ll have the chance to talk directly to Coloradans about the fiscal mess that the Democrats in charge at the state Capitol have made,” he said. “We can turn Colorado around, and with fiscal common sense and caps on spending, we will.”
Candidates seeking a statewide office must get the support of a minimum of 10,500 registered Republicans consisting of 1,500 from each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts in order to be placed on the ballot. The last day to turn in the required 10,500 signatures is May 27, 2010.
Indicating they were prepared for this announcement, the J.J. Ament camp responded 25 minutes later with their own release:
Centennial – Today the Ament campaign responded to the news that Walker Stapleton is skipping our party’s nomination process and instead will attempt to collect petition signatures to gain access to the primary ballot.
“Stapleton’s move is really no surprise unfortunately,” said Jesse Mallory, Ament’s campaign manager. “J. J.’s message and experience is resonating with people across Colorado giving him a large base of support. In fact, repeated surveys have shown Walker Stapleton a distant third in the race, trailing us and Muhammad Ali Hasan.”
“I find it ironic that a candidate who has been in the race for nearly a year and just last week sent out a fundraising letter claiming to be the “front runner” would need to skip the caucus and assembly process,” said Mallory. “I think it’s troubling that he is doing this in a year where grassroots involvement is at its highest and people are engaged in making a difference. It’s clear that Walker Stapleton doesn’t want to get to know our party’s activists, and he doesn’t want to give them an opportunity to get to know him.”
No word yet from team Ali Hasan. J.J. Ament has been the top pick for state treasurer’s candidate among participants in the last five editions of the Survey of Colorado’s Political Temperature.
This kind of mean-spirited, tired attack from Ament’s team can’t mask the fact that Stapleton has outraised them by 3 to 1 and is fiscally conservative enough to make the decision to target larger numbers of actual voters with his positive, winning, Colorado-first message. He’s the best qualified candidate and has generated the resources to run an actual campaign against the sitting Democrat. The activist community gets that and will want to back a winner. Treating activists like they don’t really know what’s going on is sure to backfire for Ament.
Stapleton spoke to the 39 people who attended the 7 precinct caucuses in the room where our precinct met. He then left and didn’t vote. I’ve interviewed and listened to presentations by Stapleton, Ali Hasan and J. J. Ament. Ament is the most qualified and sounds like he could take over on day one. Hasan’s a talented campaigner and would campaign for his next job if elected. He’d have a press release out every day. Stapleton is a smart guy, but not a politician.
What Don said. Don’s cross-examined all three candidates in painstaking detail. Without his analysis I would be clueless. Ali is as charismatic as they come, but treasurer was the wrong race for him. I think he shoul have tried again for the HD seat against Scanlon.
Hmm, I am not that familiar with these candidates and I’m trying to decide who to support (I’m a state delegate). Hasan’s family appears to be well known on the national stage in connection with Muslims for America and the like. It appears to be a good organization, trying to get nonviolent Muslims involved in the political process and the Republican party, and condemning terrorism, but voters may still be leery, particularly when it comes to handling our money. Hasan claims Ament is trying to circumvent Tabor, and Stapelton appears to be running third and may not have enough support at the state convention to get on the ballot. Who to support? Thoughts?
Brian, In addition to the other comments in this thread, I would invite you to look at this link:
https://bendegrow.com/2010/trusted-expert-dick-murphy-endorses-j-j-ament-in-colorado-treasurers-race/
Good luck: It’s not necessarily an easy decision.