Forty Years Ago This Week: In an anticipated move by pundits, John Fuhr, an Aurora Republican who had served as speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives, announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor. The veterinarian by trade had before unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 1974 having just wrapped up his term as speaker. A political eternity had since passed in those 7 years, but Fuhr had stayed involved.

Fuhr said his decision had come on the heels of informal surveys on his candidacy and he’d decided to hire well-known Texas pollster Lance Terrance to administer the polling.

Fuhr had yet to receive any official endorsements but informed The Colorado Statesman that he’d spoken with several high-placed Republicans, seeking their support. Former Govs. John Love and John Vanderhoof, as well as Sen. Bill Armstrong and Rep. Hank Brown, had all told Fuhr that they had made no commitments to any candidate, he assured eager-eared political reporters.

“I have not been pressed to bow out of the trying for the nomination from any GOP group,” Fuhr added.

He continued, “I have not and do not intend to put any of my own money into my campaign. I don’t know personally how much money has been raised thus far. When it comes to a point when we can’t pay our bills, which it hasn’t yet, I want to know.”

Fuhr served four terms in the state House and from 1975-1980 had served on the President’s Advisory Council on Economic Opportunity.

“The gubernatorial position should be cooperation rather than confrontation,” Fuhr said, adding that he believed that a smooth relationship with the legislature was an area where he could excel.

Fuhr eventually won the Republican primary but then went on to lose to Democratic Gov. Dick Lamm, having mustered a meager 31% of the vote.

Twenty Years Ago: In a rare, if not unheard of moment, Mesa County Republicans and Democrats suspended their normal affairs of battling one another to instead fight the Colorado Reapportionment Commission’s proposed redistricting of the state Senate which would split the county into two districts if it were to pass as drafted.

The plan called for leaving the bulk of Mesa County in the district of state Sen. Ron Teck, R-Grand Junction, and then adding Delta County. The eastern end of Mesa County (including Palisade, DeBeque, Mesa and Collbran) would join the district represented by Sen. Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs.

“[Our petition] reflects the community sentiment and our steering committee has both Republicans and Democrats,” said Bill Byers who was leading the petition drive.

All three Mesa County commissioners had already begun the process of filing a formal objection to the plan with the Colorado Supreme Court.

Mesa County Democratic Party Chairman Skip Mottram issued a scathing press release on the reapportionment commission’s intent to split the county.

“It makes no sense,” Mottram said. “Carving out Palisade, DeBeque and northern Mesa County would split one of the few single-county Senate districts in the state.

Mesa County Republican Chairman Ray Schuster agreed.

“It’s a long way from Steamboat Springs. What’s unusual is this is a bipartisan effort because it’s a bipartisan bad deal,” Schuster said. “Jack (Taylor) is a good man, no doubt about it. But in the long term, it’s not a good deal for Mesa County.”

Gay Hammer, a Grand Junction-based political consultant who was running Teck’s campaign, said she’d prepared two different sets of plans for the upcoming re-election.

“It’d be fine from Ron’s point of view if he has Delta County, but the real issue is somebody from Steamboat representing Palisade and rural Fruita,” Hammer said. “Jack Taylor can handle it, but how hands on can you be when you live in Steamboat? It’s a four-hour drive to get here for one thing.”

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva Mystery series, with degrees in Political Science and History from Colorado Mesa University, and is a contributing writer to Colorado Politics and The Gazette.