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By Mary George
Aug. 12 - Democrat Mark Udall and Republican Bob Greenlee won their primaries Tuesday, promising the most interesting 2nd Congressional District election in more than a generation.
Udall took the Democratic nod as a come-from-behind candidate, following Gene Nichol into the race, trailing him in fund-raising yet finishing ahead.
Udall credited his victory in part to the 7,000 doors he knocked on as he gathered signatures to put him on the primary ballot. Nichol was the only Democrat to go through the 2nd District caucuses.
"I never thought it was Gene's (race) to lose as much as I thought it was mine to win,'' said Udall, a one-term state representative, former director of Colorado Outward Bound and an heir to the Udall family political legacy. His father, Morris Udall, was a U.S. congressman and presidential candidate.
"It was my style, too,'' he continued. "I knew that I could attract people to me with my values about education and the environment and other values that are more universal than Outward Bound.''
About Greenlee, a self-made millionaire, Udall said: "He obviously has the potential to be very well funded. . . . But the vision I bring will be very compelling.''
Greenlee, who loaned his campaign $150,000, said of the upcoming general election: "I think people are predisposed to a change. We just have to shape our message properly and get it out. If we do that, I have every confidence that we will win.''
At press time, Nichol - a University of Colorado law professor who lost a similar primary bid for the U.S. Senate two years ago - was meeting with his supporters and unavailable for comment. He was ready to concede the race, his campaign manager said.
The 2nd District race is sure to be one of the hottest contests in Colorado and the nation. That's because, in a year when the Democrats are just 11 seats short of controlling the U.S. House, 2nd District incumbent and Democrat David Skaggs is retiring.
On top of that, Republicans have found their most viable candidate in more than two decades in Greenlee.
"He's as good as we're going to get,'' remarked Don Bain, past Republican Party chairman. "Money's important, and Greenlee's got it.''
Indeed, the 2nd District has been in Democratic control since 1974, the year Richard Nixon resigned and the Democrats captured a slew of seats across the nation in a backlash to the Watergate scandal.
That turning tide occurred in the sixth year of Nixon's presidency, and Ronald Reagan's, too, noted Colorado College political science Professor Bob Loevy, and it is a trend that Democrats would do well to heed in the sixth year of Democrat Bill Clinton's presidency.
Udall and Nichol left the other two Democratic contenders - Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas and Louisville Blue Parrot bartender and former state Sen. Paul Weissmann - in the dust at the polls and at the bank.
GOP results told a similar story. Greenlee, Boulder's millionaire mayor, led Larry E. Johnson, a little known, 2 to 1 at the polls and 100 to 1 in raising money.
Republicans faced a clear choice between Greenlee and Johnson, who differed sharply on the issues as well as in their backgrounds. Greenlee, who's made his fortune in radio, restaurants and gaming, portrays himself as a "staunch fiscal conservative,'' yet a social moderate. He favors school vouchers and tax reform. Johnson, a newcomer to both the GOP and the right-to-life camp, campaigned on the need for a "high-tech, 21st-century economy,'' but couldn't gain the trust of the party in light of Greenlee's promise.
Among all the Democrats, even the candidates admitted they differed insignificantly on the issues. They all stood for the environment, opposing vouchers, supporting local school districts with federal programs, standing up to HMOs with the Democrats' Patients Bill of Rights and preserving Social Security. The only real differences were in background, style, money raised and television time bought.
Nichol campaigned on the same populist theme he used in 1996 in the U.S. Senate primary.
He was the only Democratic candidate in Tuesday's race never to have won an elected office. He also made waves during the campaign by claiming he had the party endorsement, earning him criticism from his opponents and a rebuke from the state party chairman.
Denver Post Staff Writer