Republican Primary for Governor:
Dan Maes vs. Scott McInnis

Republican Assembly Results for Governor:

Dan Maes: 49.35%
Scott McInnis: 48.89%

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The Republican Assembly victory by Maes was small, but the narrow win did earn Dan the top line on the GOP primary ballot. McInnis was expected to win the Republican nomination for governor handily after competitor Josh Penry dropped out of the race late last year.

History

A small-businessman from Evergreen, Dan Maes was able to tap into the large Tea Party contingent at the Colorado GOP convention. Voters identifying themselves as aligned with the Tea Party’s views continue to make up Maes’ strongest voting base.

McInnis is a former U.S. congressman from the Grand Junction area, and has major advantages over Maes in both fundraising and name recognition. Lingering resentment over McInnis’ untimely negative public remarks regarding 2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez also played a part in Scott’s poor showing at the convention. However, McInnis is still favored to win the primary vote easily.

Polling

Maes faces the difficulty of selling his candidacy to the broader Republican Party base after his surprise convention victory. While Colorado leads the nation in Tea Party advocacy, average Republican voters have given McInnis a sizeable double-digit lead in pre-primary polling.

Dan is a long shot to make up enough ground to overtake Scott, but both now trail their Democratic opposition. McInnis, hurt by a plagiarism scandal, has lost ground to Democratic candidate John Hickenlooper in recent weeks, according to a Rasmussen poll. Maes has gained little primary ground as a result of McInnis' legal woes, as Dan just finished working out his own more recent mishap.

SEE A PREVIEW OF THE REPUBLICAN RACE FOR US SENATE

SEE A PREVIEW OF THE REPUBLICAN RACE FOR STATE TREASURER