Group increases pressure on likely Senate hopeful

Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 4, 2007 at midnight

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A liberal group today will again call on Republican state Board of Education member Bob Schaffer to step down over an alleged conflict of interest.

ProgressNowAction has been needling Schaffer - the likely 2008 GOP U.S. Senate candidate - for months over a vote he cast last spring on an issue involving a charter school.

The latest volley will come this morning, when the education board adopts an ethics policy, said Michael Huttner, who heads ProgressNow.

The group cites contributions to Schaffer's campaign from the head of a company hired by the charter school for management services. That makes the vote a conflict of interest, the group says.

On Wednesday, Schaffer said the contributor was not himself a party to the case before the board. Schaffer dismissed the allegation as an attack by Democrats on his support for school choice.

Huttner, a lawyer who teaches at the University of Denver Law School, agreed that Schaffer did not violate Colorado's campaign finance law. But Schaffer's vote is still a conflict of interest that should be illegal, he said. "It's a loophole in the law," Huttner said.

Schaffer took contributions from David Brennan for his 2004 Senate race and again this year for his 2008 run. Brennan heads White Hat Management, which runs charter schools.

Huttner said he'll present a petition this morning calling for Schaffer to return the contributions or resign.

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