GOP delegates choose Beauprez

Stuart Steers and Jody Berger, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 21, 2006 at midnight

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COLORADO SPRINGS—Congressman Bob Beauprez won 72 percent of the delegates' support for the Republican gubernatorial nomination at a State Assembly that dragged on far longer than anyone could have predicted.

"I'm humbled, I'm flattered and I'm extremely encouraged," Beauprez said. "A vote that strong is an indication that we can bring the party together."

His rival Marc Holtzman won 27.8 percent of the vote, falling just short of the 30 percent needed to get on the ballot. He can still petition onto the ballot and vowed to do so. Holtzman will have to collect 1,500 signatures from Republican voters in each Colorado congressional district to win a spot on the August 8 primary ballot.

More than 3,600 delegates were issued credentials and 3,244 votes were cast. Beauprez received 2,340 votes and Holtzman received 902.

Boyd Marcus, a spokesman for Holtzman’s campaign, thought if the voting had gone more quickly, his candidate would have done better.

"If we had a straightforward vote earlier in the day, I think we would have gotten the 30 percent," Marcus said.

There were elaborate procedures in place to make sure the vote was fair and accurately counted. Representative from both campaigns met with party officials weekly to negotiate the process. However, the same rules also delayed the vote and the count dragged on for hours.

By the time the results were released at 7:45 p.m., the World Arena was nearly empty. All the political signs were taken down and most of the confetti swept away. It was a dramatic change from earlier in the day when the place was crowded with blue-shirted Beauprez supporters and "Holtzman’s hero's" in bright yellow t-shirts.

While the majority was clearly in Beauprez’s camp, Holtzman made a solid case for himself.

"I wouldn't mind seeing Marc Holtzman on the ballot (in the August primary)," said Jeff Baker, a delegate from Centennial. "He's very conservative. He talks right on all the issues. He'd be a good governor but I think Beauprez would be better."

The day started at 9 a.m. and both candidates for governor completed their 15-minute speeches before noon. And then the real fun began.

Delegates waited hours to receive their ballots as the credential committee struggled to determine who was eligible to vote.

Once the ballots were handed out, the lines to vote were so long that some delegates left before casting ballots. The party tried to move alternates into voting positions but that also seemed to take hours.

"It's very frustrating," said delegate Jeri Howells of Fountain. "I'm used to it taking some time but this seemed disorganized."

Howells, who is supporting Beauprez, said she's been coming to state party assemblies for 25 years.

The Republican Party instituted the new rules because there was widespread disenchantment with voting procedures at the state assembly in 2004 when former Congressman Bob Schaffer and Pete Coors battled for the party’s U.S. Senate nomination.

Rachael Sunbarger, party spokesperson, said the vote count took longer because of safeguards built into the process.

"People were angry when they left in 2004," Sunbarger said. "We've gone to the extreme to make sure the count is verifiable."

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