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Holtzman sounds off on Hickenlooper, blasts policies

Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 18, 2006 at midnight

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John Hickenlooper hasn't even said he wants to be governor, but the specter of his candidacy seems to be haunting everyone in the race.

Tuesday, Bob Beauprez was asked what he thought of a run by the mayor of Denver.

"Who is the mayor of Denver?" Beauprez said with a smile.

Beauprez's opponent for the Republican nomination, Marc Holtzman, is not so reticent. He's already acting like Hickenlooper will be the Democrats' candidate for governor, and he's accusing the mayor of being against Christmas and leading a city where pot smokers run free.

"A year ago, the mayor tried to cancel Christmas," said Holtzman, referring to a brief controversy over a plan to replace the words "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays" on the City and County Building.

"There's a secular, godless undertone to the policies of the administration," Holtzman said in an interview. " 'Happy holidays' is a code word for the secular left. There's an agenda by the secular left to remove all religion from public life. I have a different vision."

Holtzman said he wants to protect the "Judeo-Christian" heritage of the country.

He also said that Hickenlooper did not fight hard enough against Initiative 100, a law that Denver voters approved in November to end all city penalties for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

"He governs a city with the most liberal marijuana laws in the country; he didn't show leadership on that," Holtzman said.

He claims that Hickenlooper is running a "rogue municipality" that encourages illegal immigrants to call Denver home.

"They're trying to institute sanctuary for people who break our laws," he said.

Holtzman also took a swipe at Beauprez.

"Bob Beauprez is Hickenlooper light," Holtzman said. "There's not a lot of difference between the two."

A spokeswoman for Hickenlooper said that the mayor was busy running Denver and couldn't reply directly to Holtzman's comments.

"Mayor Hickenlooper spent his day visiting a public school and working to end homelessness and create affordable housing opportunities," said Lindy Eichenbaum Lent. "I guess Mr. Holtzman spent his day thinking about us. We're flattered."

On Tuesday, former Denver City Councilman Ed Thomas withdrew from Holtzman's campaign committee, saying that he was dismayed by the "gratuitous insults directed at John Hickenlooper and his administration."

In contrast with the fireworks coming out of the Republican primary, the current front-runner for the Democratic nomination has been quiet about a potential Hickenlooper bid.

Even though former Denver district attorney Bill Ritter would be most immediately affected if Hickenlooper jumped into the race, he has been going about the business of building a campaign, opening a headquarters and trying to win endorsements.

"Bill is focused on November 2006 and winning the general election," said his spokesman, Evan Dreyer. "He's not worried or distracted (about Hickenlooper). He's motivated to become the next governor."