GOP chooses Bruce to fill House seat

Look out, Denver: Hurricane Bruce is on its way to the state Capitol.

Gruff-talking, penny-pinching El Paso County Commissioner Douglas Bruce easily won an appointment Saturday to fill the House District 15 seat in northeast Colorado Springs. Bruce received 44 votes from a Republican vacancy committee, while former school board candidate Reginald Perry received 16 and businessman Steve Hasbrouck got the remaining six.

Bruce, who has been criti- cized by some within his own party for his abrasive, sometimes alienating style, tried to turn that to his advantage with the committee. He vowed not to back down from fights over conservative issues, even as he admitted that he is “still working on my charm deficit.”

“Logically, the outcome today should be unanimous,” Bruce told party activists crammed into a small room at Cheyenne Mountain High School. “Those who support me want me in Denver to support our Republican goals. Those who detest me should vote for me to get me out of the county.”

The outcome wasn’t unanimous, but it was more of a landslide than many had predicted. Committee member John Heimsoth said afterward that Bruce comes across as a principled man who will work for less government and more individual responsibility.

“It would be hard to think of somebody who’s had much more of an impact on public policy in the state of Colorado,” Colorado GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams said about the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights author.

Democrats in the legislative majority seem to be salivating at the idea of the controversial Bruce becoming the face of Colorado Republicans.

“He’s been an ineffective politician in that he revels in negativity and acidic attitude,” state Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Colorado Springs, said. “I can’t see him turning around and being able to work with people not only on our side of the aisle but on his side of the aisle.”

Bruce will succeed GOP Rep. Bill Cadman, who will be sworn into the Senate on Dec. 11. Cadman replaces Republican Sen. Ron May, who resigned in October.

Bruce will stay on as a county commissioner until the legislative session begins in mid-January, he said. Once he resigns his post, a vacancy committee will select a successor between three likely candidates.

Though short, the campaign was marked by party infighting. Bruce joined others who questioned Perry’s qualifications as an engineer. And on Saturday, Bruce passed out fliers showing that Perry had failed to vote in elections three times in the past seven years.

Perry, who ran for the Colorado Springs School District 11 board in 2005, presented himself as an Army veteran who could offer the district effective leadership. Hasbrouck, a political newcomer, said he was running to be a representative of the common people.

Bruce, meanwhile, emphasized that he thinks he can win policy debates and have an impact in Denver. He said he will invite every legislator out to a meal to see if he can find areas of agreement with them.

As votes were being counted, county GOP Chairman Greg Garcia pleaded for party members to unite behind whoever won the election.

But just four hours after Bruce’s appointment, attorney Mark Waller announced that he will run as a Republican for the seat in 2008. Waller said he wasn’t trying to upstage Bruce’s victory but that he wanted to get started immediately on a campaign to bring effective leadership to the area.

“I want the best representation in Denver, and I think the way this stands right now, I think that I am the best candidate for this district,” said Waller, a first-time office-seeker.

Democrat Allison Hunter also has said she’ll seek the House District 15 seat next year.

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com