Bob Schaffer’s run for U.S. Senate is all but official.
Last weekend, the former 4th District congressman told about 100 Teller County Republicans that he intends to run for the Senate, said Teller County Commissioner Jim Ignatius.
Schaffer was the keynote speaker at the county party’s Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday.
“He did say there was going to be a formal announcement sometime in the future,” Ignatius said.
Larimer County Republican Party Chairman Ed Haynes said Schaffer “chose to tell these 100 people down there that he was going to do it, knowing there was no press in the room.”
But during a breakfast meeting with Longmont GOP members Wednesday, Schaffer said he had not decided.
“I’ve certainly given that an awful lot of thought,” Schaffer said. “It’s a decision of enormous proportion that I would not propose making on my own.”
U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave said she’s looking forward to Schaffer’s official announcement “in the very near future.”
Musgrave, who calls Schaffer a mentor and a good friend, succeeded the Fort Collins Republican in the 4th Congressional District seat in 2002.
Schaffer retired after three two-year terms to keep a term-limits pledge he made in 1996. If he runs, Schaffer could replace Republican Sen. Wayne Allard of Loveland, who is stepping down to keep a similar term-limits pledge.
Schaffer hesitated before answering questions during a phone interview Thursday afternoon.
He said he performed Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech at the dinner.
When asked if he told the group that he was going to run, he said, “I have no remarks about it. I have not launched a campaign.”
Schaffer serves as vice chairman of the Colorado State Board of Education. He ran unsuccessfully in 2004 for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat left open by retiring Republican Ben Night-horse Campbell. Democrat Ken Salazar beat Republican nominee Pete Coors in the general election.
State GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams said most Republicans will hold their breaths until Schaffer decides his next move. Other Republican contenders include Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and Denver radio host Dan Caplis.
“If he runs, they probably will not; that’s my impression,” Wadhams said. “There’s plenty of time to put together a U.S. Senate race.”
Until the formal announcement, Musgrave said she will eagerly await Schaffer’s official announcement.
“I have a feeling it will come,” she said. “I think the field will be cleared for Bob, too. I don’t think there will be a primary.”
U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, a Boulder County Democrat who represents the 2nd District, is the name mentioned most often on the Democratic side of the Senate contest.