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Longshot congressional candidate Casper Stockham endorses longshot for governor

By JOEY BUNCH 02/07/2018 | updated 8 years ago

Republican Casper Stockham wasn’t deterred from running for Congress this year by the fact he got less than 28 percent against Democratic incumbent Diana DeGette in 2016. The long odds that former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez faces in becoming governor, then, didn’t stop Stockham from throwing his endorsement to Lopez Tuesday.

He said Lopez is the only Republican candidate who can attract “a large portion of Hispanic, black, unaffiliated and soft Democratic voters.”

Stockham expects a difference-maker this year to be unaffiliated voters, the state’s largest bloc, who can join the fray by voting in primaries for the first time this year.

“Many have left the Republican and Democratic Parties due to a high degree of mistrust and belief that the parties are two sides of the same coin,” Stockham said.

“In addition any candidate on the Republican side will be linked to Trump and unfairly branded as a racist. Sadly few of them have any solid plan to combat those attacks. This is why I believe Greg Lopez is our best choice for governor!”

Stockham is one of three Republicans vying to take on DeGette in November, along with John Field and Jeremiah Vialpando in the Republican primary. DeGette as three Democratic challengers: Saira Rao, David Sedbrook and Michelle Hudson Hale.

“The 2018 gubernatorial race in Colorado is going to come down to big money on the left or right and we the people!” Stockham said in a statement. “We can choose the status quo and see very little to no change for the better or We The People can choose to move our state forward in a positive and beneficial way!

“For far too long the people of Colorado have been divided by politics in the Capitol. The establishment elite of both parties have continually played us against one another: Left vs. Right, Front Range vs. Western Slope, rich vs. poor, Environmentalists vs. Agriculture and the list goes on. We must reject their premises and unplug from the noise Stockham says. It’s about all of us!”

Lopez is a longshot, just like Stockham. The businessman has raised less than $10,000 in donations, spent more than $22,000 and taken out $13,000 in loans, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. Walker Stapleton raised more than $1 million last quarter, along with a Super Pac with about $800,000. Other candidates with more name identification have raised hundreds of thousands.

Lopez has some catching up to do as the election calendar begins next month with the party caucuses.

 
JOEY BUNCH

Reporter

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