Face The State is hearing rumblings that University of Colorado Regent Paul Schauer is considering petitioning onto the ballot in his re-election bid. The news comes as the incumbent District 6 Republican faces ongoing criticism for being too liberal for his Douglas County constituents. He now has a strong GOP opponent.
SchauerCU System
Petitioning onto the ballot would be almost unprecedented from an incumbent candidate like Schauer. When asked by Face The State about his plans, he said, “I do intend to announce and petitioning is always an option." Only 1,000 voter signatures from the entire district are required to petition onto the ballot, making such a strategy easily accessible.
Kelsey Alexander, chairwoman of the Douglas County Republican Party, said that she is unaware Schauer is even a candidate for CU Regent. "It seems odd to me that someone would not go through the assembly process if they believe in the party system," said Alexander. "To not follow through with the process seems disingenuous."
According to Douglas County foes, Schauer's presence at county assemblies is almost non-existent. He attributes his absences to the fact that the meetings are “on top of each other.” It's a dividing point between Schauer and his primary opponent, Jim Geddes, who proudly notes that he has managed to attend over a dozen events in recent weeks.
Schauer recently faced criticism from his own party when he hesitated to vote for Bruce Benson as CU president and he made front page headlines by alleging that Benson threatened to run attack ads against he if he ran for re-election. Schauer later downplayed his allegations.
Our take: In the face of strong primary opposition from Geddes, it might make sense for Schauer to avoid a primary battle. With a reputation of being somewhat elusive to voters, however, that strategy may just backfire.