2010 Colorado gubernatorial election

The 2010 Colorado gubernatorial election happened on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 to elect the Governor of Colorado. The Democratic mayor of Denver, John Hickenlooper, easily won the election, as the conservative vote was split between Republican businessman Dan Maes and the Constitution Party's Tom Tancredo, a former Congressman.

General election
Candidates
 Libertarian: Jaimes Brown
Running mate: Ken Wyble
 Independent: Jason R. Clark
 Independent: Paul Fiorino 
 Democratic: John Hickenlooper, mayor of Denver
Running mate: Joe Garcia, Colorado State University-Pueblo President
 Republican: Dan Maes, businessman
Running mate: Tambor Williams, former state representative
 Constitution: Tom Trancredo
Running mate: Pat Miller, former state representative

Results

Constitution primary election

Candidate
Tom Tancredo, former Republican U.S. Representative

Democratic primary election
Candidate
John Hickenlooper, mayor of Denver

Refused
Bill Ritter, incumbent governor
Ken Salazar, United States Secretary of the Interior and former U.S. Senator
Andrew Romanoff, former Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives (ran for U.S. Senate)

Results
Hickenlooper won the primary unopposed.

Libertarian primary election

Candidates
Jaimes Brown
Dan "Kilo" Sallis, 2008 vice presidential candidate of the Boston Tea Party

Results

Republican primary election
Candidates
Dan Maes, businessman
Scott McInnis, former U.S. Representative

Refused
John Suthers, Colorado Attorney General
Josh Penry, state senator
Tom Tancredo, former U.S. Representative (ran as the Constitution Party candidate)

Results

 Aftermath 
Because of Tancredo's strong preformance, the Constitution Party became a "major party." In Colorado, a party can become "major" if their candidate gets 10% of the vote. If a party is "major", their name is placed near the top of the ballot. The Constitution Party did not have a candidate in the 2014 election. Because of that, it was no longer a major party.Steven K. Paulson, "ACP Not Relishing Role As Colorado Major Party", Associated Press; May 8, 2011.

References

Category:Gubernatorial elections in the United States
Category:Colorado elections
Category:2010 elections
Category:21st century in Colorado
Category:November 2010 events