Schultheis: Maes staying in governor's race
Embattled gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes will stay in the race despite calls for him to drop out, his biggest local supporter said Frday.
Colorado Springs Republican State Sen. Dave Schultheis said he’s talked to Maes about the pressure to drop out.
“You won’t see Dan backing down, I know that,” said Schultheis, who gave Maes his first major endorsement and is known as the General Assembly’s most conservative member.
Calls for Maes to end his campaign have grown stronger since his surprise victory in the GOP primary last month. The volume increased this week when Maes came under fire for embellishing his accomplishments as a Kansas police officer, leading several top supporters to revoke their endorsements.
Prominent Republicans have called for Maes to step down today the last day a new candidate could be added to the November ballot.
Schultheis, though, said the controversy surrounding Maes is overblown.
“I think it’s a lot of spin and mud that’s being thrown based on partial information,” said Schultheis. “It’s keeping attention away from the issues that he stands for.”
Maes trails Democrat John Hickenlooper in the Governors race, but is holding off third-party contender Tom Tancredo for second place.
Maes won the primary after his GOP opponent former congressman Scott McInnis was felled by scandal. McInnis went from front-runner to also-ran after he apologized for plagiarizing passages that appeared in papers he wrote as part of a fellowship.
When Maes won the primary, though, GOP leaders weren’t celebrating. Within hours, rumors began flying that the Republicans were ready to field a stronger candidate if only Maes would step aside. Tancredo has said he will drop his campaign to give the GOP a clearer field if Maes drops out.
So far, though, Maes has said he’s not quitting.
Schultheis said Maes’ primary success widened a rift between the party’s moderates and conservatives.
“To some degree the party is struggling with its identity,” Schultheis said.
