Lamborn faces GOP leakage in contest

Some Republicans say they won't vote for him in close race

Dick Foster, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 12, 2006 at midnight

Text size

More Airlines & Aerospace

COLORADO SPRINGS - They are names and photos familiar in El Paso County Republican politics, but this time they're not endorsing the GOP candidate for Colorado's 5th Congressional District.

The photos and names adorn a full-page ad bought by Democratic contender Jay Fawcett in today's Colorado Springs Independent, the local alternative weekly.

It's the latest salvo fired in Fawcett's campaign to defeat State Sen. Doug Lamborn, the Republican Party's nominee to replace retiring Joel Hefley. Hefley has refused to endorse Lamborn, charging him with running a sleazy campaign.

The ad is one of the biggest campaign buys ever by a Democrat for the seat that no Democrat has held since its creation in 1972. Most years, the party has written off the race with a token candidate and no money. This year, Fawcett is riding a wave of public disaffection for the Iraq war and the Bush administration to the most competitive race ever for the seat.

Fawcett has gained such momentum that the national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Wednesday elevated his 5th District contest to an "emerging race," and will pump money into it.

The committee's sudden interest came after a Denver Post poll this week called the race a dead heat, with 37 percent each for Fawcett and Lamborn and 26 percent undecided. Fawcett also held a 39-27 percent margin over Lamborn among unaffiliated voters, whose numbers could swing the election.

Fawcett's new ad aims directly at Republicans, who outnumber district Democrats more than 2-to-1.

Mary Ellen McNally, a lifelong Republican who has served on both the Colorado Springs City Council and the District 11 school board puts it this way:

"I am a moderate Republican, and the Republican Party at a local, state and national level no longer represents my views. It has gone from being the big tent to a party in isolation that has moved way to the right."

She is one of the 36 names in the Fawcett ad proclaiming that they would not back Lamborn.

McNally, who calls herself a fiscal conservative but a moderate on social issues, says she is not alone.

"I'm in contact with a lot of Republicans who share my views," she said. "They're voting for the Democrat. We're not voting for the Republican. We can't take it anymore."

Still, Lamborn has retained support from many of the party's heavy hitters in the district.

They include Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera and retired Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn, who both endorsed Lamborn after losing to him in the primary; Bill Hybl, president of the El Pomar Foundation, and several county and state office holders, among them state Sen. Andy McElhany.

Republicans who won't endorse Lamborn

• Rep. Joel Hefley, retiring from the seat

• John Anderson, ex-El Paso County sheriff, sought primary nomination

• Mary Ellen McNally, former Colorado Springs City Council and school board member

• George Culpepper, former El Paso County Republican Party vice chairman

• Scott Hente, Colorado Springs city councilman

• Jerry Heimlicher, Colorado Springs city councilman

• Lon Matejczyk, Colorado Springs Business Journal publisher

Those who do:

• Bill Hybl, president, El Pomar Foundation

• Lionel Rivera, Colorado Springs mayor, sought primary nomination

• Ret. Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn, sought primary nomination