Bidlack drops big names for Friday fundraiser

Fifth Congressional District Democratic candidate Hal Bidlack is rolling out some big names for a fundraiser Friday evening in Denver.

U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former presidential candidate and retired Gen. Wesley Clark, former U.S. Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.), Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Denver), former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.), and the entire Colorado Democratic Congressional delegation are on the host committee for the Bidlack fundraiser, scheduled for 5-7 p.m. Friday at the Patton Boggs Law Firm in Denver.

Most of the national names - with the exception of Ken Salazar and possibly Hart, U.S. Rep. John Salazar (D- Manassa) and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Golden) - won't attend in person, said Bidlack spokesperson Christy Lelait.

But a slew of prominent Colorado Democrats will show up, she said, including former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, Colorado Democratic Party Chair Pat Waak, Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon (D-Denver),  state Democratic Party Vice Chair Dan Slater, and El Paso County Democratic Party Chair John Morris.

Bidlack - still a longshot in a district that has never elected a Democrat -- surprised many by raising more than $100,000 in the second quarter of 2008. However, Federal Election Commission reports released Thursday show Bidlack raised $9,238 in the first three weeks of July - less than half of any one of the three Republican CO-5 candidates.