For the seven Republicans who are running for Colorado governor, the race now shifts to a complicated game of new math.
The reality is that no one expects all seven to make the June 24 primary ballot, but a clearer picture of who’s still in the running will emerge next month.
Two things will happen then:
The secretary of state’s office will finish counting the signatures of candidates who gathered signatures to petition onto the ballot.
And the Colorado Republican Party will host its state assembly on April 12. The state assembly is where the 4,150 delegates selected at their precinct caucuses and county assemblies on March 4 will have a chance to vote for their favorite candidate for governor. Those candidates need a certain percentage of votes to make the ballot.
“It’s going to be exciting, that’s for sure,” state party spokesman Owen Loftus said.
He pointed to the large number of candidates in the race and the mood of Republicans, who believe they finally have a shot of winning one or both of the two big statewide races, for governor and the U.S. Senate.
Running for governor are former Congressmen Bob Beauprez and Tom Tancredo; state Sen. Greg Brophy and former Senate Minority Leader Mike Kopp; Secretary of State Scott Gessler; Adams County businessman Steve House; and rancher Roni Bell Sylvester.
The winner of the June 24 primary will take on the incumbent, Democrat John Hickenlooper.
Under Colorado’s election system, candidates have the option of collecting signatures, going through the assembly or doing both.
Candidates in statewide races must collect the signatures of 1,500 registered Republicans in each of the state’s seven congressional districts. The signatures for all races are due to the secretary of state by 5 p.m. Monday — a deadline that reflects a significant change in Colorado politics.
Beauprez is the only candidate going solely through the signature route. Kopp, Brophy and Gessler are going only through the assembly.
“I never considered anything else,” Brophy said. “I just feel the grassroots base of the party deserves to have their say. I like these people. I want to earn their support.”
Tancredo on Thursday became the first gubernatorial candidate to turn in his signatures.
Andrew Cole, spokesman for the secretary of state, said the counting of Tancredo’s petitions already is underway and must be completed by the end of the month, but this is where it gets tricky.
At the assemblies, candidates need at least 30 percent of the delegate vote to get on the ballot. A candidate who fails that but gets more than 10 percent is allowed to petition onto the ballot. Anyone falling below 10 percent is out of the race.
But in previous elections, the signature deadline came after the assembly, giving candidates time to collect signatures if necessary.
Cole said when lawmakers moved the primary date from August to June, they failed to take into account the signature deadline, which now comes before the assembly. That means a candidate who falls within the 10-30 range but didn’t collect signatures is out.
Tancredo said he is confident his volunteers collected more than enough signatures to get on the ballot. But if the verification process isn’t finished by April 12, he said he will go through the assembly. That will be a gamble because if he gets less than 10 percent of the delegate vote, he’s out even if the count results show he had signatures.
“If we find out I have enough signatures, I won’t go through the assembly,” Tancredo said. “I’ll tell the delegates who were backing me to vote their conscience.”
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
