Taegan:
A source tells Political Wire that Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) is ending his re-election campaign. A fundraiser scheduled for tonight was canceled and all campaign staff was sent home in the middle of the day.
If this does indeed turn out to be the case, this news is much more on the "John Cherry" end of the drop-out scale than it is on the Byron Dorgan side. While Ritter is the incumbent, his poll numbers have been flaccid all year, and he hasn't done himself any favors with the Democratic rank-and-file over the past four years with his borderline-hostile relationship with organized labor in the state. This could give Democrats the opportunity to start fresh and tap Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper for the race. If nothing else, a Hickenlooper candidacy would likely do more to excite the base than a Bill Ritter/Michael Bennet top-of-the-ticket pairing would accomplish.
UPDATE: Just a thought: the longer the Ritter campaign lets this story go unanswered, the greater the likelihood that it's true. Taegan updates that the Ritter campaign is not responding to emails, which is a pretty telling sign. And just now, Ambinder is apparently hearing the same news.
LATER UPDATE: A campaign source is telling the same thing to Hotline On Call.
LATE LOCAL UPDATE: A local ABC affiliate also confirms the news.
EVEN LATER UPDATE (David): Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report tweets that her sources are saying that Andrew Romanoff, presently challenging Sen. Michael Bennet in a primary, is weighing a switch. Personally, I'd much rather have Hickenlooper.
RaceTracker Wiki: CO-Gov |
