Huh? Stating that he was confused by Scott McInnis’s decision not to debate Josh Penry in the primary race to become the GOP Gubernatorial candidate, Bob Beauprez told the Denver Post that he didn’t recall debating primary opponent Marc Holztman. “Whatever damage was done, It never came out of a debate,” he said. But Beauprez did debate Marc Holtzman, a vicious set-to between the two GOP candidates that partly shaped the race.
McInnis specifically cited the GOP battle between Beauprez and Holtzman as his reason for not debating Penry. McInnis campaign spokesman Sean Duffy told the Post, “[McInnis] wants to avoid mutually assured destruction, where we are giving ammunition to the Democratic Party.”
Although Beauprez is now muddled on the past, it takes a little longer to rewrite history. The Colorado Springs Gazette reported on March 18, 2006, that Beuaprez debated Holtzman at the Denver Tech Center Hyatt Regency. During the debate Holtzman attacked Beauprez on a multitude of issues, including his failure to prevent Referendum C from passing. At one point, referring to Referendum C, which created additional tax funding for schools, Holtzman said, “Bob, if anything, this was an issue where you earned the name Both Ways Bob in all the issues that affect the future of Colorado.”
Beauprez was unable to shake the moniker “Both Ways Bob” during the election cycle.
As the primary frontrunner, he also decided to “reevaluate whether he [would] debate Holtzman again.”. He pulled out of a scheduled debate on the Saunders’ show with Holztman.
Holtzman dropped out of the race after the Colorado Supreme Court chose not to hear his case to get on the August primary ballot. It does not appear that the two ever debated again.
Edit Note: The original version stated that Sean Duffy was McInnis campaign manager. He is campaign spokesman. George Culpepper is McInnis campaign manager.
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