Dem decries bitter race

Vitriol broke party, hopeful in 7th says

Chris Barge And Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 5, 2006 at midnight

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One of three candidates in the 7th Congressional District primary all but bowed out of the race Friday while claiming that his fellow Democrats' negative campaigns hurt the chances of taking the seat back from Republicans in November.

"Whoever wins this race, and obviously it's not going to be me, is going to have to come to me to help try and mend fences," Herb Rubenstein said. "This race has broken the Democratic Party in the 7th district."

Ed Perlmutter, who was endorsed by labor unions and almost all of the big-name Democrats who chose to weigh in on the primary, said he appreciated Rubenstein for broadening the debate. But both he and Peggy Lamm, the other Democrat in the race, disagreed that the mudslinging primary had fractured the party.

"We're going to do everything we can to win in November, and I am completely confident we are going to win," Lamm said.

The 7th district, in Denver's western, northern and eastern suburbs, is considered one of the most up-for-grabs seats in the country.

The winner of Tuesday's Democratic primary will face Republican Rick O'Donnell in November to fill the seat GOP incumbent Bob Beauprez left open by running for governor.

Nationally, Democrats are feeling positive about their odds of flipping the 15 seats they need to take control of Congress. And they think that either Perlmutter or Lamm can beat O'Donnell in the general election.

"We don't know how (Republicans) arrived at him, but we're pretty glad that they did," said Sarah Feinberg, press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "Rick O'Donnell has made it clear that he will be a rubber stamp for the Bush administration."

O'Donnell, 36, is almost a generation younger than former state Sen. Perlmutter, 53, and former state Rep. Lamm, 55. And he has never held elective office.

But the former executive director of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education is widely viewed by Republicans as a brilliant policy wonk who helped Gov. Bill Owens carry out several of his signature accomplishments.

"If the national Democratic party is thinking that Rick O'Donnell is going to be a pushover in November, they're going to have another think coming to them," said Owens' former press secretary, Dick Wadhams.

"Rick is truly one of the most talented, substantive, results-oriented intellectuals that I have ever met in this business."

In the 5th Congressional District, six Republicans vying for the retiring Joel Hefley's seat will enter the final weekend before the primary in a scramble that confounds even experienced analysts.

State Sen. Doug Lamborn, Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera and Hefley's former administrative director and endorsed successor, Jeff Crank, appeared to be fighting for the lead.

But their fight could divide voters and open the way for any of three others who have solidified small segments of support - former El Paso County Sheriff John Anderson, former El Paso County Commissioner Doug Bremer and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn.

"You could make a plausible argument that five of the six could win it, and possibly even the sixth candidate could win it," said Colorado College political science professor Robert Loevy.

The district anchored by Colorado Springs has been a Republican fortress, never represented by a Democrat since its creation in 1972.

Democratic challenger Jay Fawcett brings more impressive credentials than some of Hefley's opponents in previous elections.

His record as a retired Air Force combat pilot and Gulf War veteran should play well in a district with 29,000 active duty military personnel and thousands of retirees.

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