DENVER -
In a sudden and surprising move, State senator Josh Penry has dropped out of the race for governor.
The news was first reported by the Washington Post's political blog, "The Fix," Monday afternoon and later confirmed by Penry's campaign.
Penry, 33, had been vying for the Republican nomination with his former boss, former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis and lesser-known Evergreen businessman Dan Maes. According to multiple sources, Penry had been alerting prominent supporters of his decision Monday before news leaked out.
"The general election starts today," said Eric Sondermann, a political analyst. "It's unexpected. Instead of having a two month general election, as we thought we might, we're going to have a 12 month general election -- between two Hogan and Hartson alumni."
Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, hadn't heard anything until he saw the news on the internet.
After launching his campaign in July, Penry, positioning himself as the upstart in the race and seen by many observers as a potential rising star of the Republican party, appeared posied to make a serious run at the nomination, but the first fundraising reports from last quarter underscored McInnis's inherent advantage in the ace.
Penry collected about $400,000 in his first quarter of fundraising, which was dwarfed by McInnis' $545,000 for the quarter.
And Penry had also been criticized of late for inflating claims about state hiring by current Gov. Bill Ritter. Penry had been trying to get McInnis to debate him head-to-head as well, but McInnis declined most invitations to appear with Penry at forums -- evidence to many that he already knew he was in prime position in the race, although not everyone saw it that way.
"In terms of energy, I think it's a loss," Sondermann said. "Of the three candidates, Penry was the only one energizing his supporters. In my mind, he's run the superior race to date -- so who knows what this is about. My gut tells me it's a lot of different factors.
"Penry is only 33 and certainly has time on his side. But if you want to be governor of this state, you have to strike when the iron is hot. You never know if that opportunity is going to come around again or not."
The news was first reported by the Washington Post's political blog, "The Fix," Monday afternoon and later confirmed by Penry's campaign.
Penry, 33, had been vying for the Republican nomination with his former boss, former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis and lesser-known Evergreen businessman Dan Maes. According to multiple sources, Penry had been alerting prominent supporters of his decision Monday before news leaked out.
"The general election starts today," said Eric Sondermann, a political analyst. "It's unexpected. Instead of having a two month general election, as we thought we might, we're going to have a 12 month general election -- between two Hogan and Hartson alumni."
Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, hadn't heard anything until he saw the news on the internet.
After launching his campaign in July, Penry, positioning himself as the upstart in the race and seen by many observers as a potential rising star of the Republican party, appeared posied to make a serious run at the nomination, but the first fundraising reports from last quarter underscored McInnis's inherent advantage in the ace.
Penry collected about $400,000 in his first quarter of fundraising, which was dwarfed by McInnis' $545,000 for the quarter.
And Penry had also been criticized of late for inflating claims about state hiring by current Gov. Bill Ritter. Penry had been trying to get McInnis to debate him head-to-head as well, but McInnis declined most invitations to appear with Penry at forums -- evidence to many that he already knew he was in prime position in the race, although not everyone saw it that way.
"In terms of energy, I think it's a loss," Sondermann said. "Of the three candidates, Penry was the only one energizing his supporters. In my mind, he's run the superior race to date -- so who knows what this is about. My gut tells me it's a lot of different factors.
"Penry is only 33 and certainly has time on his side. But if you want to be governor of this state, you have to strike when the iron is hot. You never know if that opportunity is going to come around again or not."
