Colorado Secretary of State election, 2010
The Colorado Secretary of State election of 2010 was held on November 2, 2010. Incumbent Bernie Buescher was named as Secretary of State by Governor Bill Ritter in December 2009 to fill the vacancy left behind by Mike Coffman, who resigned following his election to the United States House of Representatives.[1] He faced off in the general election against Republican Scott Gessler and Constitution Party candidate Amanda Campbell, but fell to Gessler after Gessler captured 49.52% of the vote. None of the candidates were challenged in the primary election on August 10.
General election
Results
| 2010 Race for Secretary of State - General Election[2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party |  Scott Gessler
|
49.5% | |
| Democratic Party | Bernie Buescher | 43.9% | |
| Constitution Party | Amanda Campbell | 6.6% | |
| Total Votes | 1,722,096 | ||
Endorsements
- Cañon City Daily Record, local newspaper[3]
- Colorado AFL-CIO[4]
- Colorado Springs Independent, local newspaper[5]
- Colorado WINS[6]
- Communications Workers of America (CWA)[7]
- Daily Sentinel, local newspaper[8]
- Denver Post, local newspaper[9]
- Durango Independent, local newspaper[10]
- Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce[11]
- Secretary of State Project[12]
- Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition (PPFC)[13]
- Tom Tancredo, conservative independent gubernatorial candidate[14][15]
Finances
According to Follow the Money, the breakdown of campaign finances for each of the candidates is as follows:
| Colorado Secretary of State Campaign Finance | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Total Contributions | |||||||||||||
| Scott Gessler[16] | $269,281 | |||||||||||||
| Bernie Buescher[17] | $202,789 | |||||||||||||
| Amanda Campbell[18] | $0 | |||||||||||||
Debates
September 10th - Colorado Decides
Eric Sondermann, host of Colorado Decides on Colorado Public Television, moderated the debate between Bernie Buescher, the Democratic incumbent for Secretary of State, and Scott Gessler, the Republican challenger.
Click here to view the entire debate
October 6th - Mike Rosen Show
On Wednesday, October 6th, Mike Rosen, a weekly opinion columnist for The Denver Post, moderated a debate between the two major party candidates in the race for secretary of state on his radio program on 850 KOA in Denver, Colorado.
Click here to listen to the entire debate (dead link)
Polling
Magellan Poll
Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies randomly telephoned 954 likely Colorado voters between August 25 and 26, 2010 via an automated system.
| Magellan Poll - August 25 - 26, 2010[19] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
 Scott Gessler (R)
|
37% | |||
| Bernie Buescher (D) | 31% | |||
| Another candidate | 15% | |||
| Undecided | 17% | |||
| Total voters | 954 | |||
Survey USA Poll
Between October 19 and 21, 2010, Survey USA surveyed 621 likely voters about all the statewide races on the ballot in November. Survey USA did not use live call center employees, but rather an automated system in which taped questions were asked via a professional announcer; the respondent was then invited to press a button on their phone or record a message indicating their selections.
| Survey USA Poll - October 19 - 21, 2010[20] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Percentage | |||
| Scott Gessler (R)
|
37% | |||
| Bernie Buescher (D) | 34% | |||
| Amanda Campbell (ACP) | 11% | |||
| Undecided | 18% | |||
| Total voters | 621 | |||
August 10, 2010 primaries
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Incumbent Bernie Buescher ran unopposed in this contest[21]
Republican primary
Candidates
- Attorney Scott Gessler[22] ran unopposed in this contest[23]
Noteworthy events
Campaign finance complaint
A Republican activist filed a campaign finance complaint against Secretary of State Buescher saying he "used his executive assistant, Heidi Hamilton, on state time to help manage campaign appearances."[24] The complaint was forwarded to State Attorney General John W. Suthers who would investigate the matter and decide whether he wanted to represent Buescher or advise him to obtain a lawyer. A hearing on the matter must be held within fifteen days of the complaint being filed, according to state law. Should the complaint be upheld by an administrative law judge, the punishment would be a $50 per day fine.
Secretary of State Project
- See also: Secretary of State Project
In 2010, Buescher received the endorsement of the Secretary of State Project, a 527 political organization who described their purpose as "wrestling control of the country from the Republican Party" through the process of "removing their political operatives from deciding who can vote and whose votes will count," namely the office of secretary of state in many cases.[25][26]
External links
- List of candidates qualified for Colorado's August 10 Secretary of State primary
- Green Paper's list of candidates for Colorado Secretary of State, 2010
General Election candidates
- Bernie Buescher for Secretary of State Campaign website
- Scott Gessler for Colorado Secretary of State Campaign website
Footnotes
- ↑ The Colorado Statesman, "Buescher wins secretary of state nod" 26 Dec. 2008
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State - 2010 General Election Results
- ↑ Cañon City Daily Record, "Re-elect John Suthers, Cary Kennedy; elect Bernie Buescher to a full term" 11 Oct. 2010 (dead link)
- ↑ AFL-CIO - 2010 Endorsements
- ↑ Colorado Springs Independent, "Election endorsements" 7 Oct. 2010
- ↑ Colorado WINS - 2010 Candidate Endorsements
- ↑ Communication Workers of America - Endorsements
- ↑ The Daily Sentinel, "2010 endorsements" 24 Oct. 2010
- ↑ The Denver Post, "Return Buescher as election chief" 6 Oct. 2010
- ↑ The Durango Herald, "Endorsements" 24 Oct. 2010
- ↑ KKTV "Chamber Of Commerce Releases Election Endorsements" 14 Oct. 2010
- ↑ Secretary of State Project - 2010 races
- ↑ Pikes Peak Firearms Coalition - PPFC Candidate Endorsements
- ↑ Ross Putin, "Tancredo (re-)endorses Scott Gessler for CO Secretary of State" 25 Oct. 2010
- ↑ The Huffington Post, "Tom Tancredo Re-Endorses Scott Gessler For Secretary Of State After Poll Shows Strong ACP Performance" 25 Oct. 2010
- ↑ Follow the Money.org, "Scott Gessler candidate summary," May 24, 2011
- ↑ Follow the Money.org, "Bernie Buescher candidate summary," May 24, 2011
- ↑ Follow the Money.org, "Amanda Campbell candidate summary," May 24, 2011
- ↑ Magellan Data and Mapping Strategies, "Colorado Statewide Elections Survey Release" 31 Aug. 2010
- ↑ 9 News, "Latest poll: Bennet and Buck tied in Senate race" 25 Oct. 2010
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State - 2010 Democratic Primary Election Results
- ↑ Face the State, "Gessler files for 2010 secretary of state election" 8 Jan. 2009
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State - 2010 Republican Primary Election Results
- ↑ Daily Sentinel, "Campaign finance complaint filed against Buescher" 29 Sept. 2010
- ↑ American Spectator, "SOS in Minnesota" 7 Nov. 2008
- ↑ The Secretary of State Project - 2010 Races
