Twenty Years Ago this week in The Colorado Statesman … Candidates for the U.S. Senate seat up in 1996 were starting to emerge. U.S. Rep. Wayne Allard had set up shop at a Lakewood office building, smack in the middle of Jefferson County and well outside his 4th Congressional District, fueling speculation that he was planning a run for the Republican Senate nomination. On top of that, Allard exploratory committee chairman Sean Conway hinted that people would be “very surprised” how much money the veterinarian had raised when fundraising reports were filed at the end of the month.

In this cartoon from July 1995, a mugger labelled Doug Bruce Petition lurks in an alley, ready to bash a passer-by.

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Meanwhile, across the aisle, former first lady Dottie Lamm, who had been toying with the idea of running, made clear she wasn’t going to enter the race. She was appointed to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women a couple years prior and was heading to Beijing for a conference in a couple months. “Right now, I’m getting things done. If I got into the Senate race, I’d have to stop all that and start fundraising right away — it’s that simple,” she said. But Denver City Councilwoman Ramona Martinez was creating a buzz after telling Gov. Roy Romer that she intended to run for the Senate seat, though she was also exploring the possibility of running in the 1st Congressional District if delegation dean U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder declined to seek another term. Attorney Tom Strickland was forging ahead with his planned run, staffing up with a bevy of consultant hires and boasting the fresh endorsements, including former U.S. Sen. Tim Wirth, House Minority Leader Peggy Kerns, D-Aurora, and Senate Minority Leader Mike Feeley, D-Lakewood. …

Denver Mayor Federico Peña, Colorado Democratic Party Chairman  Buie Seawell and the party’s executive director Sherrie Wolff celebrate the opening of the state Democrats’ new headquarters at 17th and Downing in Denver in this photo from July 1985.

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…In an open letter to Colorado Republican Party Chairman Don Bain, U.S. Rep. Pat Schroeder wondered if the GOP was “returning to Willie Horton-style politics, using race, religion, sexual preference and gender to exploit people’s differences,” based on a “Wanted” poster issued by the National Republican Congressional Committee. The poster targeted 28 congressional Democrats for defeat because they had opposed the Republicans’ “Contract with America,” which had been mostly opposed by every congressional Democrat, Schroeder noted. All but a few of those targeted by the NRCC were Hispanic, African American, Jewish, women or gay, she pointed out. “The use of the ‘Wanted’ poster also suggests that the lawmakers have committed a crime,” she wrote. “This tactic communicates to voters that by supporting those targeted, they too then are a target, playing to fears of anti-government violence.” …

… Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour joined Arkansas Valley Republicans at the annual GOP Roundup Dinner in Otero County, making good on a promise to visit a longtime friend from college who lived in the Valley. “With the kind of flair that can usually be found in the heartland of America,” The Statesman reported, “this celebration brought out the best in this small community.” Hundreds of enthusiasts chowed down on barbecued beef and “huge cauldrons” of baked beans, while Mississippian Barbour regaled the crowd with homespun wisdom about the upcoming election year. “We need more freedom, not more government control in the West,” he said. Barbour went on to dispel rumors that a third-party candidate, such as Colin Powell, might hurt GOP chances of denying Bill Clinton a second term as president. “The Republicans must keep their word in 1996,” he concluded. “Speak temperately but act boldly.

Thirty Years Ago this week in The Colorado Statesman … U.S. Sen. Gary Hart and a couple dozen close friends, political advisors and finance folks held a “damn near totally off the record” meeting in Vail where, everyone who whispered to The Statesman made clear, a second presidential bid in 1988 might or might not have been on the Democrat’s agenda. “There was no agenda,” insisted Mike Stratton, Hart’s 1984 presidential campaign coordinator in Colorado, who assembled the list of weekend guests for the retreat. In attendance: Hart’s wife, Lee, and their daughter Andrea, Mickey Miller and Mark Hogan, D.C. aides Bill Shore and Bill Dixon, Colorado aide Tom Gleason, and Colorado Democratic Party chair Buie Seawell. “We all agreed that we want Gary Hart to be president,” Seawell said when pressed, “But Gary is exercising discipline in not deciding at this stage. Remember, Gary has fooled people before. He wants to make doubly sure that his decision is right.” Still, he surmised, Hart would be the frontrunner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination. “Gary is known, he’s passed many of the tests,” Seawell said, adding, “He’s in a good spot.” …

… With Gov. Dick Lamm leaving the governorship open after three terms, and State Treasurer Roy Romer angling for the Democratic nod to succeed Lamm, state politicos were engaged in a game of testing the musical chairs. Former Crested Butte Mayor W Mitchell, a Democrat, was weighing a bid for treasurer, as were several Republicans, including state Rep. Peter Minahan, Boulder County Treasurer George Hilgendorf and former campaign operative Tory Brown. Republicans Paul Schauer, state Sen. Paul Powers and state Rep. Bob Kirscht were all considering a run for governor. About the only politician who didn’t appear to be running for something, it seemed, was furniture magnate Jake Jabs, who had realized that he registered as a Republican — after a decade of unaffiliated status — too late to seek the 1986 GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate. The Legislature had moved the primary up a month to August, throwing a calendar wrench in Jabs’ plans to affiliate by what turned out to be the old deadline.

— ernest@coloradostatesman.com