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Scott McInnis campaigns western style
5/21/2010
By Leslie Jorgensen The Goliath in the GOP race for governor is attorney and former 3rd District Congressman Scott McInnis, who raised more than $1 million within six months of launching his campaign in June. His campaign staff is in high gear with less than 10 days to woo Republican delegates before the May 22 state party assembly at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.
The campaign staff worked the crowd along with members of McInnis’ family — his son Daxon McInnis and daughter Andrea Pollock with her two-year-old daughter Aspen — who have been enlisted to court delegates’ votes in the final stretch of the first leg of the race. McInnis aims for a two-stepping gubernatorial race — to win the state party assembly without a primary against Republican opponent Dan Maes and dance into the general election to face likely Democratic opponent Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.  Breaking before two-stepping at McInnis’ birthday bash at The Stampede: Campaign communications deputy director Josh Green, communications director Sean Duffy, political director Dustin Zvonek and a regional political director Jeff Small.Photo by Leslie Jorgensen/The Colorado Statesman
A huge country music fan, McInnis finds energy and solace in listening to “Wildfire” by Michael Martin Murphey, the country singer who has frequently joined the candidate on the campaign trail. When traveling the Rocky Mountain campaign trail, staffers said McInnis is so Western-identified that the candidate would feel naked without his cowboy boots. Temporarily off the campaign trail — and missing the The Stampede birthday bash — is the candidate’s wife, Lori McInnis, who is assisting with wedding plans for the couple’s daughter Tessa’s marriage to Matt Canterbury. The couple will be married in an evening wedding ceremony in Estes Park on May 22 — the same day of the state GOP assembly in Loveland. Also sidelined last week was McInnis campaign consultant Mike Hesse, who was recuperating from a cold — an unwanted illness afflicting staffers on other campaigns.  McInnis campaign deputy communications director Josh Green reviews the daily goals with Devin Alfonso, an intern.Photo by Leslie Jorgensen/The Colorado Statesman
The McInnis campaign headquarters is located on the first floor of a corporate-type office building on Belleview — a skip East of I-25. The office foyer is traditionally furnished with a table, two chairs and a sign-in guest book. The headquarters provides ample enclosed offices and cubicle work stations — and all sport photo montages of the candidate and his family. Campaign communications director Sean Duffy is out on the campaign trail; however, deputy communications director Josh Green welcomes us and hosts a tour of the headquarters. Campaign political director Dustin Zvonkev is engrossed in a conference call and checking data on his laptop in his office near the foyer. Zvonkev oversees campaign operations that include tracking delegates through three regional field directors. One of those directors, Jeff Small, is on the phone with his regional county coordinators. He’s responsible for 18 counties including portions or all of El Paso, Douglas, Jefferson and Weld counties. These counties are rich with Republican delegates and his goal is to turn them out for McInnis at the state party assembly.  The McInnis family hits the campaign trail: The candidate’s son Daxon McInnis, daughter Andrea Pollock and 2-year-old Aspen Pollock giving political talking points to Grandpa McInnis!Photo by Leslie Jorgensen/The Colorado Statesman
In another partitioned office, campaign regional director Tyler Q. “T.Q.” Houlton is checking delegate counts in his state territory. Nearby, volunteers are calling state GOP delegates. Interns Brenden Andrizzi, Lyndsay Strawn, Nate Marsh and Devin Alfonso are assembling campaign signs in a conference room. The décor is a signs, signs, signs motif — some stacked nearly as high as the ceiling. Nearby is the hidden treasure — an authentic ice cream freezer with the glass sliding door top, the kind found in neighborhood convenience stores. “It was donated by a Scott McInnis supporter. We use it to stock frozen ice cream and pizzas for our campaign volunteers,” said Green, who added that it’s a lot cheaper and faster than ordering pizza deliveries. The Colorado Statesman wanted to discover more about the insider workings of the campaign — and the staff provided the answers to our questions. 1) Who on the campaign would be able to change a flat tire?  Stampeding for McInnis: Devin Alfonso, an intern; Tyler Q. “TQ” Houlton, a regional political director; Jessica Bogar, finance director, and Susie Schneider, a volunteer from Boulder.Photo by Leslie Jorgensen/The Colorado Statesman
2) Who is most likely to get a speeding ticket? 3) Who spends the most time on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter? 4) Do you have nicknames for staff members? If so, what are they? Why? 5) Who on staff eats the most fast food? 6) What does McInnis travel with and NEVER forgets? 7) What’s the first thing the candidate does when he arrives home from traveling the campaign trail? 8) What book is McInnis reading right now? 9) What is the strangest thing the candidate brought home after an event? |
Feb. 3, 2012Vol. 113, No. 5 |
McInnis is on the campaign trail and rarely, if ever, in the office. The Colorado Statesman caught up with the candidate at his birthday party — a $15-a-person fundraiser at The Stampede, a country western tavern and restaurant in Aurora. It’s a favorite hangout of many Republicans, including former President George W. Bush and former presidential candidate Arizona U.S. Senator John McCain, who held events there.