Bruce riles GOP again, this time with a letter

Newly appointed state Rep. Douglas Bruce was again in hot water with his own party Thursday over a scathing letter he wrote criticizing a candidate hoping to replace him on the El Paso County Commission.

County Republican officials denounced the letter received Wednesday by Commissioner District 2 precinct committee members, who will vote Saturday on filling the vacant seat on the commission.

In the letter, Bruce accuses candidate Amy Lathen of lying and flipflopping on whether she will vote in favor of tax increases and calls her unqualified to hold public office.

The letter also tells committee members that either of the two other candidates, Ken Bull and Michael Burton, would be a better choice than Lathen.

“Do you want a two-faced commissioner who takes both sides of is- sues?” Bruce wrote. “Not me ... Maybe she learned her ‘Both Ways Amy’ technique at the politician-training school she admits attending.”

Bruce could not be reached for comment Thursday evening. He gave up his seat on the county commission after being named to replace Rep. Bill Cadman in the Legislature.

“I am not afraid of Doug Bruce,” Lathen said Thursday. “I am not going to be bullied by this man and I am not going to allow him to take my years in this party ... and redefine that and tell people that I am someone I have proven I am not.”

Bruce based his “flip-flopping” claim in the letter on an interview with Lathen printed in August in the Colorado Springs Independent.

In it, Lathen is quoted as saying that if elected she would vote in favor of putting a tax-increase measure on the ballot.

Bruce says Lathen later said she would never vote in favor of a tax increase.

The letter arrived two days after Bruce kicked a newspaper photographer on the floor of the state House of Representatives hours before he was sworn in. House Speaker Andrew Romanoff has appointed a committee to look into the kicking incident and recommend whether any punishment against Bruce is warranted.

On Thursday, Lathen went line by line through the threepage letter scoffing at Bruce’s accusations.

“I’ve got thick skin,” Lathen said Thursday. “What I don’t like is that he’s lying to these people. These people have a critical decision to make on Saturday.”

Lathen said she would vote for a ballot issue since citizens can’t petition to put county issues on the ballot but would never vote for a tax increase itself.

“I have said that I support TABOR and TABOR says that the people have the right to choose,” Lathen said. “I never said that I support raising taxes. He is distorting this issue completely and lying about what I said.”

The county Republican Party said Thursday that the letter conflicts with its yearold ethical campaigning policy that calls for “those among us who campaign to win our vote: To be honest and truthful. To demonstrate integrity. To act with respect.”

“The statements in the letter personally and recklessly attacking Amy Lathen are not accurate and truthful,” the El Paso County Republican Party said in a statement. “The letter does not come close to reflecting the ideal of an honest and open exchange of ideas and a healthy, vigorous debate about the issues of County Commissioner District 2.”

In a meeting with all three candidates Thursday morning, county GOP officials asked Bull and Burton to sign letters denouncing Bruce’s letter. Both declined.

“I don’t speak for Doug Bruce,” Bull said. “I don’t have any idea what he had in mind in writing that letter.”

Burton said he would like to see the party get through this and unite.

“I don’t have first-hand knowledge of either side of the issue,” Burton said. “It is just hearsay. I’m not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0232 or carlyn.mitchell@gazette.com