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'06's first attack ad debuts

Fellow Republicans liken Holtzman to 'Clinton under oath'

Jody Berger, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 4, 2006 at midnight

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The battle to become Colorado's next governor hit the airwaves Wednesday when a newly formed political organization launched the first attack ad of the season.

The 60-second radio spot criticizes Republican candidate Marc Holtzman for refusing to release his tax returns and for his testimony in a recent court case over his appearance in ads opposing two ballot initiative last fall.

In the ad, male and female actors consider what Holtzman may be hiding. The man says Holtzman contradicted himself in court. The woman concludes, "Gee, Holtzman sounds like Bill Clinton under oath."

Coloradans for Freedom and Opportunity, which paid for the ad, is run by Katy Atkinson, a Republican strategist who supports U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez for governor.

The group has only one donor so far, Bruce Benson, a former state party chairman who also supports Beauprez.

"There's been basically a civil war in the Republican Party," said John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University.

Holtzman split with many party activists last year when he opposed Referendums C and D in the November general election. Ref C, which won, asked Colorado voters to forgo tax rebates due under the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights to help bolster the state budget.

Both Atkinson and Benson supported the measures.

"Holtzman fired an awful lot of shots last fall," Straayer said. "He opened both barrels on the governor and on Beauprez. Now, they're saying there are two sides to this civil war."

In what Atkinson described as "a very modest buy," the ads will air in Denver, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Greeley and Grand Junction. By launching the radio spots now, Atkinson said, she hopes to reach Republican delegates who will cast their votes at the party's state assembly on May 20 to determine which candidates will be on the primary ballot in August.

Atkinson also hopes the ads reach Republicans who will vote in the primary. "We feel it's important that Marc Holtzman be held accountable," she said.

The Holtzman campaign chose not to respond to the ads.