On the stump

Crank at coffee shop

Jeff Crank, a Colorado Springs businessman seeking the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional District seat, will hold a public forum at a northeast coffee shop this morning.

The forum begins at 9 a.m. at Copper Creek Coffee, 3315 W. Carefree Circle. Crank will discuss his campaign and proposed legislation and take questions and comments.

Lamborn wants term 2

Rep. Doug Lamborn makes it official at 6 p.m. Monday at Giuseppe’s Depot Restaurant, 10 S. Sierra Madre St.: The first-term congressman representing the 5th District will announce his intention to seek another term.

To take part, RSVP to Robin at 238-9077 or e-mail rcoran@msn.com.

Lamborn will square off against retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn and Colorado Springs businessman Jeff Crank for the GOP nomination.

Rayburn to petition

Rayburn told constituents in a letter mailed to more than 750 Republican movers and shakers that he’ll sidestep the party’s May 31 assembly and petition onto the ballot in the 5th Congressional District race.

“As you know from my background, I am not a professional politician,” Rayburn wrote. “While I have great respect for the caucus process, I feel I need to run a different campaign. With my opponents likely to return to the negative tactics they succumbed to in the previous race, I worry that if everyone’s energy is focused on a small percentage of Republican voters that the campaign will likely become mired in a counterproductive race that will further damage our party.”

Doug Lamborn and Jeff Crank exchanged barbs two years ago over attack ads.

Lamborn hasn’t said how he’ll try to get on the ballot. Crank has vowed to go through the assembly process and blasted Rayburn on Friday in a news release. He said Rayburn was “attacking” the party by not going through the caucus process.

Who can caucus

About 75 percent of Colorado’s population is old enough to participate in Tuesday’s political caucuses, according to new figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.

No one expects all 3.7 million of the state’s residents who are 18 years old and older to participate, though. Many of them aren’t even registered with a political party.

The caucus meetings usually involve just a handful of people gathering in local schools and living rooms.

The District of Columbia has the highest percentage of people of voting age, with 81 percent of its population 18 or older. Utah is at the bottom, with 69 percent.

Newly powerful blocs

Advocacy groups are touting some unusual blocs as power brokers in the presidential election: unmarried black women and Muslims.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations conducted a survey showing 80 percent of Muslims nationwide plan to vote in the primary elections.

“The survey’s results show a family-oriented, highly educated and diverse group of voters who condemn terrorism and believe anti-Americanism in the Muslim world is a serious problem,” CAIR said in a statement to media outlets.

Another group, Women’s Voices Women Vote, says unmarried black women are more likely to vote than any other group of unmarried women. Economic prosperity is a top concern for that group.

“African-American women have an agenda, and they will take that agenda into the voting booth,” said Page Gardner, president of Women’s Voices Women Vote.

Get the scoop

Political junkies can get another fix after the caucus results are announced Tuesday.

Colorado College political science professors Tom Cronin and Bob Loevy will analyze the Super Tuesday results in a 9 p.m. meeting at Slocum Commons, on the first floor of Slocum Hall, 130 E. Cache La Poudre St.

Ballots in, bottoms up

All this talk about Super Tuesday has trumped what this year would be Tuesday’s usual standing as Mardi Gras and Mardi Gras alone.

But some feel there is no need for competition between civics and collecting a few strands of beads.

The local chapter of Drinking Liberally, a national organization of liberals with an affinity for libations, is hosting Super Fat Tuesday, a primary- and caucus-results watch and Mardi Gras party, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at The Coffee Exchange, 526 S. Tejon St.

If you have an item for On the Stump, contact pam.zubeck@gazette.com or citydesk@gazette.com