If Coffman wins, could it be Polis for Secretary of State?

It’s never too early to figure out how Colorado’s sixth Congressional race will affect Colorado politics.

There is speculation among insiders that if Secretary of State Mike Coffman wins the House seat, Governor Bill Ritter would appoint State Senator Ken Gordon as Coffman’s replacement as Secretary of State. After all, Gordon was the ’06 Democratic candidate against Coffman on Ritter’s ticket, losing by more than 27,000 votes.

But some insiders suggest that politics is more complicated than that – there is some talk that the position could go to Jared Polis instead.

While Polis’ bid for Congress in the second district (where former Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald is the favorite to win the Democratic primary), is causing Democrats some stress, some party insiders say that Democrats are still in debt to him for his past financial assistance.

On the Republican side things are more complicated.

If Coffman loses the race and Senator Ted Harvey wins, it could start a stampede of candidates for vacancies. House Minority Leader Mike May is said to be interested in moving to the Senate, since he’ll be term limited after the next election. If that’s true he should be considered the presumptive favorite for the state senate seat.

Others that have been mentioned as interested in a potential Senate vacancy are Mark Baisley, a Roxborough Park businessman who ran against Harvey in the last campaign; and Chris Holbert, a mortgage industry lobbyist from Highland’s Ranch. Both would also be interested in May’s house seat were he to move to the Senate.

May is not without detractors however. Says one Douglas County activist and GOP precinct person: “Mike May is not conservative enough to represent the district. He’ll have a hard time coming out of a vacancy committee right now. There’s real disgust with his leadership on taxes, on pro-family issues, and on [his] support of Giuliani for president.”

Stay tuned as this develops.