Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers is on the Trump administration’s list of 11 candidates to replaced former FBI Director James Comey, Fox News reported Friday morning.

U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner said in a tweet Friday that he had recommended Suthers — a former federal prosecutor and Colorado’s attorney general for a decade — to the White House and was “excited” that his name was on the list.

In a statement issued Friday by a spokeswoman, Suthers said he was honored but declined to say more.

“While I am honored to be listed as a possibility among some tremendous law enforcement professionals, at this point it would be premature to comment any further,” he said.

Others on the list include lawmakers, judges and Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, who took over at the bureau after President Trump fired Comey on Tuesday.

The move ignited a firestorm of controversy that has raged all week as the president and White House officials have given conflicting reasons for firing Comey, who was just over three years into a 10-year term heading the FBI. Democrats and some Republicans have called for a special counsel or independent commission to investigate Russian involvement in last year’s election and allegations members of the Trump campaign and transition team colluded with the foreign government.

Then-Gov. Bill Owens appointed Suthers to head the Colorado Department of Corrections in 1999. He was tapped two years later by President George W. Bush to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado and won unanimous Senate confirmation.

After Colorado Attorney General Ken Salazar won election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Owens nominated Suthers to fill the remaining two years of Salazar’s term. He won reelection twice, eventually serving 10 years as attorney general until facing term limits after the 2014 election.

Suthers was elected mayor of Colorado Springs in 2015.

Others on the list reported by Fox News include Texas Sen. John Cornyn, South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, former New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and New York Court of Appeals Associate Judge Mike Garcia. The list is rounded out with former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, former Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher, Assistant FBI Director Paul Abbate, Boeing Executive Vice President Michael Luttig, former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson and McCabe.

Other news outlets are reporting different potential candidates for the FBI post. Politico, for instance, on Thursday said former New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte is under consideration.

According to Fox News, the 11-name shortlist is “fluid” and could change.

— ernest@coloradostatesman.com