Many Local Republicans Want McInnis To Stay In RaceFrom Grand Junction KJCT 8
Allegations of plaigarism have some voters and elected officials calling for Scott McInnis to drop out of the governor's race. But, others say it should be left to voters to decide whether he deserves to advance in the election.
"He did something he shouldn't have done, he realizes that he's made a mistake. We all make mistakes. But, to throw him out of the race right now would probably be a mistake for the Republican party." GJ Results Tea Party member Tim Fenwick says.
He admits neither Republican candidate is perfect. But, says voters should be the ones to decide who stays in the race.
"We need to make the choices, the Republican party should stay out of it," Fenwick explains. He fears splitting the party over McInnis could give more momentum to Democrats.
"They (the Republican party) need to get off of this and just move ahead," Fenwick says.
Other Republicans agree this race has become too negative.
"We need to take away all the negativity that's in this campaign, on either side, from whatever direction it's come from. Unfortunately we've seen too much of that," Scott Streit says.
Others say despite the plagiarism allegations, McInnis has proven to be a worthy candidate.
"In 1998 Scott stood on the floor of the House of Representatives and voted to impeach Bill Clinton. That took an act of courage," Garry Brewer explains. "Scott McInnis is my guy and I'm going to support him 110%."
State Representative Steve King supports the former Congressman. King says after working in law enforcement for 30 years, he has learned to be sure he has all the facts before jumping to a conclusion. He says information about the alleged plagiarism is still emerging and right now he doesn't believe there is enough un-biased information available to change his mind.
"We're still in the process of finding information about the events surrounding this controversy and so forth. It's seems like it is very quick for the Democratic party to pile on and do the things they need to do politically for a political advantage," King says.
He adds that it is frustrating to see how these allegations are distracting voters from the real issues facing Colorado, such as unemployment.
