Colorado Secretary of State Gigi Dennis announced
Wednesday that she will not run for a full term in November, and she
endorsed fellow Republican and state Treasurer Mike Coffman for the job.
Gov. Bill Owens appointed Dennis, 44, a former state lawmaker, to the
secretary of state post in August after Donetta Davidson stepped down to
become a member of the federal Election Assistance Commission.
Coffman, who is on leave from the treasurer's job while serving with
the Marines in Iraq, already has announced that he will run for secretary
of state.
"I believe he will serve well," Dennis said.
She described her decision not to run as a difficult one.
"You jump into the position and you take ownership," she said. "But
it's also that ownership that made me realize that this is where my focus
needed to be."
By dropping out of a potential primary race now, Dennis said she hopes
to be better able to work toward complying with the 2002 federal Help
America Vote Act.
Colorado missed a Jan. 1 deadline to comply with part of the act when
Dennis canceled a contract for a new voter database, citing problems with
the system and project delays.
On Wednesday, Dennis said she does not know when the database will be
completed. But she said she is confident that a new vendor will be
selected later this year.
Dennis said she is also confident that Colorado will be able to comply
with another part of the federal law requiring that all polling places
have machines that can be used by sight, hearing and limb-impaired voters
without outside assistance.
Dennis may still be a candidate by November. She is one of several
people mentioned as a potential lieutenant governor candidate to run with
U.S. Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez. Dennis said that no
one from Beauprez's office has contacted her about that possibility.
A spokesman for Beauprez said he will look at many possible running
mates.
"Bob will continue to look for the most qualified candidates," John
Marshall said.
Dennis said she has no idea what she will do next, but she left the
door open for a run for statewide office.
"I'm a believer that when one door closes, another one opens," she
said. "We'll just see how the cards play out."
