FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Alexis Alber
E-mail: Alexis@lucero2010.com
Phone: 970-443-8292
January 12, 2010
LUCERO ANNOUNCES SUCCESS IN MOVING DEBATES FORWARD
Tom Lucero proudly announces that all four candidates in the Fourth Congressional District have accepted his challenge to debate in the coming months
Berthoud: The entire field of Republicans for the Fourth Congressional District Primary has agreed in principle to a series of debates proposed by CU Regent and congressional candidate Tom Lucero.
The Coloradoan has agreed to participate as one of the hosts while the series of debates is negotiated between the campaigns. Lucero stated, “I am very pleased that all four campaigns have agreed to these forums as an opportunity for the public to get a better sense of each candidate and where we stand on the issues.” Lucero continued “We hope that by allowing more exposure to each candidate, citizens of the Fourth will have a chance to express their concerns and have their questions answered directly.”
Campaign manager Alexis Alber discussed the format, “In our proposal we made it very clear that we wanted it to be as fair as possible for all four candidates so that each had an equal opportunity to choose the date, location, and format. Politics can often seem very manufactured, but debates are real and we hope that this will allow the Republican voters a true look at the candidates as they decide who they want to represent them.”
Lucero discussed his expectations, “I don’t know if we’ll end up with eight debates before the primary, but the more the better, and quite frankly we hope there will be at least four so each campaign can take the lead in hosting one debate.” He continued, “we were overwhelmed when Bob Moore of the Coloradoan graciously stepped forward to host the first debate. Bob has extensive experience in political debates. It would be exciting if other organizations saw the value in hosting a debate and agreed to help the campaigns move the dialogue forward.”
This district is considered one of the top ten districts in the country for both the Democrat and Republican parties. The Fourth Congressional District was long held by conservative businessmen such as Bob Schaffer, Hank Brown and Wayne Allard and it was in Republican hands from 1972 until 2008 when Democrat Betsy Markey defeated Marilyn Musgrave.
Historically, a significant number of seats in Congress are lost by the president’s party in mid‑term elections. This election looks like it’s shaping up for something similar to the 1994 mid-term elections when Republicans were swept into power under the Contract with America. Currently, the Republicans need to gain 41 Congressional seats to regain control of the House of Representatives.
“As we move forward with the debate series, we hope that conservatives of all types participate in this process. The best electorate is an educated one and we look forward to an interactive conversation with the voters. We are very pleased that the other candidates share our belief that debates are critically important to a representative process,” Alber concluded.
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