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RIFLE, Colorado — Evergreen Republican Dan Maes is an accomplished businessman who wants to apply his successful business principles to the job of being governor of the state of Colorado.
“I am a conservative, and I am a Republican,” he declared the 49-year-old to a room full of like-minded Garfield County residents on Wednesday, “and these days they don't always mean the same thing.”
Maes, who was raised in a tiny hamlet in northern Wisconsin and first set foot in Colorado in 1985, was in Rifle for a local Republican luncheon on Wednesday, as part of a tour of the Western Slope.
He announced his candidacy in September to take the job currently held by Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, who is not running for re-election. Maes is expected to face fellow Republican Scott McInnis, an attorney from Grand Junction and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, in a primary contest.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, this week announced he will be running for the post, as well.
Maes likes to poke fun at his own status as a newcomer to politics, a man who has lived outside the state for five of the last 15 years, and a comparative unknown who has never held elective office in his life.
“I think, in 2010, that's a plus,” he said of his dark-horse status.
He said his time out of the state was spent running large businesses in Chicago and in New York City, which he claimed to have pulled out of financial trouble.
“If I can turn around businesses, I can turn around the failed economic policies of Bill Ritter and his Democratic cronies,” Maes told his audience. “Right now, I'm passionate about being the next CEO of Colorado.”
Maes blamed Ritter for the downturn in Colorado's oil and gas boom, and indicated he has a brother-in-law who works in the energy industry and keeps him up to date regarding industry news.
Maes pledged to overturn new regulations guiding the work of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which went into effect last year and replaced what industry critics maintained was a set of rules slanted toward the industry's needs.
“On day one” in the governor's office, he said, “We walk into the COGCC board meeting and we hand pink slips to every environmental liberal on that board, and we tell them to go home.”
But, he added, he plans to reduce regulatory restrictions on the energy industry “while still being responsible to the environment.”
When asked about legislation he feels should be overturned, Maes said he would repeal the FASTER (Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery) legislation enacted last year, which uses vehicle fees to raise money for state transportation projects; and pledged that “there will be no in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants,” reversing the state's current practices.
Maes spoke with approximately 40 Republicans for nearly an hour and a half, covering a wide range of topics as he sought their support and contributions for his campaign.
jcolson@postindepenedent.com
“I am a conservative, and I am a Republican,” he declared the 49-year-old to a room full of like-minded Garfield County residents on Wednesday, “and these days they don't always mean the same thing.”
Maes, who was raised in a tiny hamlet in northern Wisconsin and first set foot in Colorado in 1985, was in Rifle for a local Republican luncheon on Wednesday, as part of a tour of the Western Slope.
He announced his candidacy in September to take the job currently held by Gov. Bill Ritter, a Democrat, who is not running for re-election. Maes is expected to face fellow Republican Scott McInnis, an attorney from Grand Junction and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, in a primary contest.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, this week announced he will be running for the post, as well.
Maes likes to poke fun at his own status as a newcomer to politics, a man who has lived outside the state for five of the last 15 years, and a comparative unknown who has never held elective office in his life.
“I think, in 2010, that's a plus,” he said of his dark-horse status.
He said his time out of the state was spent running large businesses in Chicago and in New York City, which he claimed to have pulled out of financial trouble.
“If I can turn around businesses, I can turn around the failed economic policies of Bill Ritter and his Democratic cronies,” Maes told his audience. “Right now, I'm passionate about being the next CEO of Colorado.”
Maes blamed Ritter for the downturn in Colorado's oil and gas boom, and indicated he has a brother-in-law who works in the energy industry and keeps him up to date regarding industry news.
Maes pledged to overturn new regulations guiding the work of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which went into effect last year and replaced what industry critics maintained was a set of rules slanted toward the industry's needs.
“On day one” in the governor's office, he said, “We walk into the COGCC board meeting and we hand pink slips to every environmental liberal on that board, and we tell them to go home.”
But, he added, he plans to reduce regulatory restrictions on the energy industry “while still being responsible to the environment.”
When asked about legislation he feels should be overturned, Maes said he would repeal the FASTER (Funding Advancements for Surface Transportation and Economic Recovery) legislation enacted last year, which uses vehicle fees to raise money for state transportation projects; and pledged that “there will be no in-state tuition for children of illegal immigrants,” reversing the state's current practices.
Maes spoke with approximately 40 Republicans for nearly an hour and a half, covering a wide range of topics as he sought their support and contributions for his campaign.
jcolson@postindepenedent.com
