Holtzman Looks To Precedent, Hopes History Repeats Itself

To help him in getting on the primary ballot in August:

He lost at the state assembly. He doesn't have enough valid signatures. But don't count Marc Holtzman out yet.

If Colorado history is any indication, the Republican gubernatorial candidate could still make the primary ballot - and win.

Twenty-six years ago, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mary Estill Buchanan was in the same boat. But five days before the primary, she got on the ballot and won.

That's why Holtzman has hired Buchanan's attorney - Denver lawyer John Head.

"Well, we did have a good result then," Head said Friday. "It was thrilling to have the (Colorado) Supreme Court rule in our favor. And it did keep her on the front page for weeks."

. . .

Buchanan, the secretary of state running for the U.S. Senate in 1980, also did not garner enough votes at the GOP state assembly to make the ballot, according to news reports at the time. Like Holtzman, she alleged the party bosses had instituted a smear campaign.

What transpired afterward was "one of the most extraordinary political dramas in Colorado history, resembling at times a soap opera, a stampede and a dog fight," according to a Sept. 4, 1980, Denver Post article.

. . .

Buchanan won the four-way primary by less than 1 percentage point. Her opponents felt she had greatly benefited from media coverage painting her as a scrappy underdog.

Just two months later, Buchanan lost to U.S. Sen. Gary Hart in the general election.

'Cause that's the kind of history Colorado GOPers want to relive! Go Holtzman!