Tipton, Salazar score support
| Reinforcements and ammunition are on the way for the major candidates for Congress in Western Colorado. Republican Scott Tipton found out Thursday that he rose to the top tier of a competition for Republican candidates known as the Young Guns program. As a result, he can expect money and resources from the national GOP. Meanwhile, incumbent U.S. Rep. John Salazar, D-Manassa, got an endorsement from the National Rifle Association, the country’s largest gun-rights lobbying group. The National Republican Congressional Committee’s Young Guns program sends campaign money to the GOP candidates with the most-organized campaigns and best chance of winning, in the estimation of Republican officials. “Scott Tipton has proved that he’s ready to take on incumbent John Salazar, an out-of-touch Democrat who has blindly supported his party’s failed agenda of job-killing policies and reckless spending,” said NRCC Chairman Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, in a news release. National funding became a crucial issue in Tipton’s 2006 challenge to Salazar. With the National Republican Congressional Committee on defense around the country, it declined to support Tipton in the closing weeks of the race and left the airwaves open to Salazar ads. Salazar won by a 61 percent to 36 percent margin. The NRA has endorsed Salazar since 2006. “Thank you for supporting Colorado gun owners, hunters and shooters. Good luck this year and we look forward to our continued relationship,” wrote Chris Cox, chairman of the NRA Political Victory Fund, in a letter to Salazar dated Tuesday. Tipton said he was not surprised by the NRA endorsement, and he cited his own “A” rating from the NRA. |