The Colorado Senate race was shaken up again when Gov. Bill Owens (R.) revealed April 7 that Pete Coors is throwing his hat into the GOP ring. Coors, the 57-year old CEO of Coors Brewing Company, is not as conservative as others in his famous family.
He supports affirmative action and, in 1995, his company offered benefits to same-sex partners. Colorado conservatives speculate that his late-starting candidacy for the seat of retiring Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell's (R.-Colo.) represents a reaction by moderates against the present primary-front-runner-stalwart conservative former Rep. Bob Schaffer. As veteran Denver GOP political consultant Katy Atkinson put it, "I would put Coors in the compassionate conservative category." In other words, Coors Light.
