{"id":41248,"date":"2022-04-09T17:08:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T23:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/republicans-greg-lopez-heidi-ganahl-qualify-for-primary-ballot-in-colorado-governors-race\/"},"modified":"2022-04-09T23:08:41","modified_gmt":"2022-04-09T23:08:41","slug":"republicans-greg-lopez-heidi-ganahl-qualify-for-primary-ballot-in-colorado-governors-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/republicans-greg-lopez-heidi-ganahl-qualify-for-primary-ballot-in-colorado-governors-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans Greg Lopez, Heidi Ganahl qualify for primary ballot in Colorado governor\u2019s race"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Republican
Republican candidate for governor Greg Lopez waves during the GOP assembly at the Broadmoor World Arena on Saturday in Colorado Springs. Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun<\/span>Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

COLORADO SPRINGS \u2013 Republican gubernatorial candidate Greg Lopez on Saturday secured the top line on the June 28 primary ballot after firmly aligning himself with the wing of the GOP that baselessly believes the 2020 presidential election was stolen.<\/p>\n

Lopez, a former mayor of Parker, secured about 34% of the delegate vote at the Republican state assembly in Colorado Springs.<\/p>\n

In a speech at the Broadmoor World Arena before the vote was taken, he vowed to pardon embattled Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was indicted in a breach of her county\u2019s election system, if she is convicted and he is elected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe the people want fair elections,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is time we clear up our voter rolls and stop the ballot harvesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

University of Colorado Regent Heidi Ganahl also made the primary ballot, securing about 32% of the delegate vote. She also collected enough petition signatures to qualify.<\/p>\n

Danielle Neuschwanger, a first-time candidate from Elbert County, came in third place and narrowly missed qualifying for the ballot. She did not reach the 30% delegate support threshold needed to make the primary. Afterward Neuschwanger alleged the delegate vote was fraudulent and said she plans to contest the results, though it\u2019s not clear how she could do that.<\/p>\n

Ganahl only needed the support of 10% of the roughly 3,700 delegates at the state assembly because she also collected signatures to make the ballot.<\/p>\n

Whoever wins the primary will face an uphill battle in November against Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who spent more than $23 million of his own cash to win his first term in 2018. Polis has been heralded recently by several conservative publications, and polls show voters approve of how he\u2019s led the state.<\/p>\n

Rachel Kloefkorn, a Republican voter from Adams County, said she was backing Lopez because she felt he was the best option among the top three Republican gubernatorial candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still establishment, which sucks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kloefkorn said she doesn\u2019t like Ganahl because she represents the status quo.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeidi is just a cheerleader,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t need a cheerleader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ganahl has long been the presumptive GOP gubernatorial nominee in Colorado. She said before the vote was taken that she was \u201cvery confident\u201d she would win top line on the ballot and potentially even keep other challengers from qualifying for the primary.<\/p>\n

Her second-place finish still makes her a leading contender to win the GOP nomination, which would make her the first woman to ever by the Republican gubernatorial nominee in Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe the people, we\u2019re frustrated, we\u2019re angry,\u201d she said in her speech at the state assembly. \u201cLet\u2019s tell Jared Polis a message he can\u2019t buy or cancel: you\u2019re fired.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Republican
Republican candidate for governor Heidi Ganahl speaks during the GOP assembly at the Broadmoor World Arena on Saturday in Colorado Springs. Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun<\/span>Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Lopez ran for governor in 2018, but lost in the primary to then-Treasurer Walker Stapleton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to take back our Colorado way of life,\u201d Lopez said in his assembly speech.<\/p>\n

Lopez has had several run-ins with law enforcement, all of which have been previously documented and that Lopez has openly talked about. Most recently, in October 2020, Lopez settled a lawsuit filed by federal prosecutors alleging that after he left the Small Business Administration, where he was the Colorado district director from 2008 to 2014, Lopez violated federal law by attempting to improperly influence actions of the agency.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors alleged Lopez \u201cattempted to influence the SBA\u2019s handling of its loan guarantee\u201d to Morreale Hotels, which was owned by Lopez\u2019s friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Lopez asked an SBA officer for a \u2018favor\u2019 in obtaining SBA approval of a debt restructuring plan that would have benefited Morreale Hotels and its owner,\u201d federal prosecutors said in a news release. \u201cA few months later, Mr. Lopez also asked another SBA administrator to help Morreale Hotels. Mr. Lopez\u2019s attempts to influence the SBA were unsuccessful, and the SBA ultimately recovered the full amount of its loan guarantee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez paid $15,000 to settle the case and \u201cacknowledged that the United States could prove the facts alleged in the civil action by a preponderance of the evidence,\u201d according to a news release from the Trump administration\u2019s Justice Department.<\/p>\n

Lopez said he wasn\u2019t aware at the time that he did something wrong. But Colorado\u2019s Trump-appointed U.S. attorney at the time, Jason Dunn, framed the case differently.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Lopez\u2019s attempts to exert improper influence over a federal agency on behalf of his friend were serious violations of the rules for former federal officials,\u201d he said in a written statement. \u201cThe American people deserve to have confidence that the federal government runs its programs without favoritism towards former officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez came under fire recently for remarks he made at the Douglas County GOP assembly. \u201cI think it\u2019s time we had a First Lady, don\u2019t you?\u201d Lopez said, referring to Polis\u2019 husband, Marlon Reis.<\/p>\n

Connie Goodwin, a delegate from Fremont County, said Lopez can appeal to people across the socioeconomic spectrum. Another draw, she said, was that Lopez was the only candidate who visited all 64 counties.<\/p>\n

\"GOP
GOP state assembly at the World Arena on Saturday, in Colorado Springs. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Lack of rural representation is \u201cone of the things that we are facing big time,\u201d said Tom Goodwin, Connie\u2019s husband and also a delegate. \u201cEvery county is important to him. That, to me, is major.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nancy Kolashinski, an El Paso delegate, decided to vote for Heidi Ganahl after hearing her speak Saturday. She said her comments about eliminating Colorado\u2019s income tax and rescinding executive orders passed by Polis \u2014 \u201call of them\u201d \u2014 were among the reasons for backing Ganahl.<\/p>\n

John Kellner, the 18th Judicial District attorney, secured top line on Saturday in the Republican primary for attorney general. He\u2019ll face Stanley Thorne, who delivered an assembly speech criticizing Kellner for not supporting Peters.<\/p>\n

Peters was indicted on misdemeanor and felony charges in a breach of her county\u2019s election system.<\/p>\n

She won top line on the Republican secretary of state primary ballot with 60% of the vote. She will face Mike O\u2019Donnell, a Yuma County resident, who also was placed on the ballot by assembly delegates, with 40%. Also on the primary ballot is Pam Anderson, a former Jefferson County Clerk, who gathered petition signatures.<\/p>\n

Dan Maloit, of Erie, is the sole nominee for the open Colorado Board of Education at-large seat. He\u2019ll face Democrat Kathy Plomer, of Broomfield.<\/p>\n

Former state Rep. Lang Sias is slated to be the GOP nominee for state treasurer.<\/p>\n

This is a developing story that will be updated.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/div>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

secures the top line on the ballot; Danielle Neuschwanger eliminated from the contest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,233,28,29,265,1509],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-41248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-politics","tag-state-elections"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41248\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41249"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41248"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=41248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}