Former Rep. Tancredo has no intention of quitting Colo. governor’s race

The open feud between former Rep. Tom Tancredo and the Colorado Republican Party is intensifying in the wake of Tuesday’s Republican primary for governor.

On Tuesday, businessman Dan Maes defeated former Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.) by a slim margin in a primary that was marked by a McInnis plagiarism scandal. 

In November, Maes will face Democrat John Hickenlooper and Tancredo, who is running under the banner of the American Constitution Party.    

On Wednesday, Colorado’s GOP Chair Dick Wadhams called the governor’s race “a very difficult one” for Republicans and took aim at Tancredo.

“Tom Tancredo makes it unwinnable if he remains a third-party candidate,” Wadhams said. “That’s the way the race stands right now.”

The bombastic former congressman fired back Wednesday accusing Wadhams of trying to blame him for the state party’s woes. 

“He just wants to shift the blame from him and the party onto me,” Tancredo said in an interview with The Hill. “I have a better chance of winning in a three-way race than Maes has in a two-way race.” 

Last month, Tancredo and Wadhams got into a screaming match on a Colorado radio show over the direction of the state party, with Wadhams accusing Tancredo of launching the bid simply to divide Republicans. “What are you going to talk about?” Wadhams asked. “Impeach Obama and bomb Mecca?” 

Tancredo jumped into the governor’s race a few weeks ago after declaring that neither Republican contender could win the general election. “They are the ones that made this race unwinnable,” Tancredo said.

Given his actions, it certainly appears that Tancredo couldn’t care less what happens to the Republican Party in his state. But a feud in a critical swing state like Colorado doesn’t bode well for the party.

New general election numbers out Wednesday from Public Policy Polling show Democrat John Hickenlooper with a wide lead over both Maes and Tancredo, with the two splitting the Republican vote.   

On a side note, Tancredo predicted that he’ll win “between 35 and 40 percent of the Hispanic vote in November.”