(Commentary: The TEA Party is not the Republican Party no matter what the National News Media claims. Tisha Casida did the right thing. It would be best if our nation had "run offs" in every election until one person received 50% + 1 vote.)
Just after Tisha Casida announced her candidacy last year to represent Colorado's 3rd congressional district (the race featuring Republican incumbent Scott Tipton and Democrat Sal Pace) she got a call from Ryan Call, the Chair of Colorado's Republican Party.
Call asked Casida not to run for Congress because it could hurt the Republican Party's chances, according to a report in the Colorado Statesman.
"He was very polite," Casida told me yesterday. "After I made it clear that I was going to run for Congress, he tried to get me to run in a different district."
She immediately rejected Call's suggestion, she told me, because it would be "carpet-bagging."
"I've lived here my whole life," she said. "This is the part of the state that I love and want to represent."
It's no surprise that Call would try to talk Casida out of running. Apparently, Call's assumption is that, as an unaffiliated candidate with ties to Tea Party folks disillusioned with the GOP, Casida could siphon off voters who might otherwise back the Republican. For example, Casida has the support of Bob McConnell, who ran for the 3rd congressional seat in the GOP primary in 2010. You never know whom third-party voters will go for, so Casida could pick up Dems too, but if you look at Casida's positions, you think Tea Party.
