Western Slope Seen as Key in Colorado Governor’s Race

By David Frey, 10-06-06

The Western Slope may lack the voter numbers of the urban Front Range, but both Colorado's gubernatorial candidates view the region as important territory to win in November.

That's particularly true of the 3rd Congressional District, a vast swath of the state that includes much of the Western Slope, plus the southeastern city of Pueblo. Some observers view the area, with a large bloc of moderate voters, as being a tie-breaker between Front Range conservatives in Colorado Springs and parts of Denver, and liberals in Boulder and other parts of Denver.

"We need to win in the 3rd Congressional," said Rep. Bob Beauprez, a Republican, whose running mate, Janet Rowland, is a Mesa County commissioner. Beauprez has pledged to buy a Western Slope home so he can stay close to regional issues. "I believe in the other districts, we're going to break even. How we do on the Western Slope is how we're going to go down when the election is over."

Democrats take heart in the recent success of some key Democrats in western Colorado, including Rep. John Salazar, his brother Sen. Ken Salazar and state Rep. Kathleen Curry. All three have seen success in a part of the state often considered conservative. Much of the region has a strong bloc of independent voters, though, including Garfield County where independents have recently outnumbered Republicans and Democrats.

"The 3rd Congressional District we think is just absolutely vital to our success," said Democrat Bill Ritter, who has boasted of visiting every county in the state in his campaign. "We look to a lot of the counties in the 3rd Congressional District as swing counties - counties where Republicans have won some elections and Democrats have won some."

The two candidates appeared in a rare small-town debate in Rifle on Wednesday, an event that spoke to the region's growing importance. Questions were focused on energy issues as the area becomes one of the nation's hottest spots for natural gas production, creating tensions between industry interests, landowners and environmentalists.

Throughout that debate, Beauprez repeatedly stressed his rural Colorado roots, prompting Ritter to follow suit. Both were raised on farms.

"I think more broadly, the Western Slope is important as a whole just from the perspective of governing," Ritter told the Aspen Daily News. "It is such an important part of the state. It holds so much legacy and heritage of who we are as a people."

After Democrats' victory in the Statehouse, the party is trying to appeal to moderate voters in the governor's race, hoping Ritter's anti-abortion stance will help win over those who traditionally vote conservatively without alienating the Democratic base.

"I haven't decided, so I want to give a hear," said Pam Szedelyi, of Glenwood Springs, who turned out for the Rifle debate. "They're so close to each other. I've been a Republican all my life but I'm going to vote for the man."

A gathering of Ritter supporters in Glenwood Springs on Thursday was dominated by Democrats, but also included some Republicans and unaffiliated voters who said they would cast their ballots for Ritter.

"Most of his issues are the way I think," said Michael Meskel, of Rifle, who said he was a Republican but also a childhood friend of Ritter's.
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