GOP heat is on to get Maes out of gov’s race by Friday

Will GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes step down? Pressure is mounting. Wednesday former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown withdrew his endorsement of Maes.

At the same time, former Congressman Bob Beauprez, who lost to Gov. Bill Ritter in the last gubernatorial election, came out publicly to ask Maes to step down. Beauprez has indicated he would consider stepping in to fill a vacancy if Maes withdrew, according to the Colorado Statesman.

Maes reportedly flew to Washington, D.C., late Tuesday night for meetings with officials from the Republican Governors Association.

If Maes withdraws this week, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office has said there may be time for the Republicans to name a replacement before ballots are printed. If Maes withdraws sometime after Friday, his name may be on the ballot even though he is no longer running for governor against Democratic nominee John Hickenlooper.

If that happens, Secretary of State director of communications Rich Coolidge said that any votes cast for Maes would go to whomever the Republican Party designated as his replacement.

When reached by phone this morning, Maes said, “Call Nate Strauch,” his communications director. He then disconnected the call. A call to Strauch was not returned immediately. Calls and emails to the Republican Governors Association also were not returned. There have been no announcements at www.danmaes.com.

The Denver Post is reporting former state Senate president John Andrews is also calling for Maes to get out of the race.

Scot Kersgaard has been managing editor of a political newspaper, editor and co-owner of a ski town newspaper, executive editor of eight high-tech magazines (where he worked with current Apple CEO Tim Cook), deputy press secretary to a U.S. Senator, and an outdoors columnist at the Rocky Mountain News. He has an English degree from the University of Washington. He was awarded a fellowship to study internet journalism at the University of Maryland's Knight Center for Specialized Journalism. He was student body president in college. He spends his free time hiking and skiing.

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