Beer Magnate Coors Will Seek Colorado Senate Seat

DENVER —  Surprising friends and shaking up state politics, beer brewing magnate Peter Coors will enter Colorado’s high-stakes U.S. Senate race, Gov. Bill Owens said Wednesday.

If he wins the Republican primary, the silver-haired chairman of the Golden-based Adolph Coors Co. and Coors Brewing Co. would likely take on popular Colorado Atty. Gen. Ken Salazar, a Democrat, in the general election. The seat is now held by retiring Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

It is one of a handful of contests being closely watched nationally as the Republican Party seeks to retain its 51-49 majority in the Senate.

Coors, 57, has not officially announced his candidacy, but the governor told reporters during a press conference that he spoke with him and was certain Coors was running. The head of the state Republican Party later confirmed the candidacy.

A spokeswoman at Coors said the chairman would be making a public statement soon.

The surprise move comes at a time when some GOP leaders have quietly questioned whether their leading candidate, former Rep. Bob Schaffer, could defeat the centrist Salazar.

“Schaffer is seen as more of a hard-edge conservative who would be less appealing than Salazar,” said Katy Atkinson, a GOP political consultant in Denver. “I would put Coors in the compassionate conservative category. He is a dream candidate for many Republicans.”

Not only does Coors have a well-known name, but he also has a well-known face: He appears in his company’s beer commercials.

Since Campbell, the only Native American in the U.S. Senate, announced last month that he would not seek reelection, nearly a dozen state Republicans, including Owens, have considered but decided against running for the post. That left only Schaffer, a fiscal and social conservative from Fort Collins, and Dan O’Bryant, an Air Force Academy law professor, vying for the party’s nomination.

“I am surprised by the Coors announcement, but I think it shows that the national parties are determined to find strong candidates to put into this race,” said Robert Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College in Colorado Springs.

“Salazar is the best candidate the Democrats could put forward,” Loevy said. “He is their biggest vote getter in past elections, he has a strong record as attorney general and he has a record of cooperating with Republicans. That’s why the Republicans are casting about for a powerful candidate.”

Schaffer told reporters at a rally Wednesday that Republican leaders were still behind him.

But for how long is the question. Owens said he was waiting for an official announcement from Coors before deciding who he would support. State GOP Chairman Ted Halaby said it’s in the best interest of the party to have a vigorous primary.

“The victor would be an extremely strong candidate against Salazar,” he said.

Salazar’s campaign manager, Jim Carpenter, said a split is occurring between fiscally and socially conservative Republicans.

“We will see a tough, divisive primary between Coors and Schaffer; it will be a fight for the heart and soul of the Republican Party,” he said. “Coors is a successful, well-known businessman. We know we will be outspent but we will run our campaign, raise money and talk about the issues Ken has always believed in.”

Aside from beer, the Coors name has long been associated with conservative politics. Joseph Coors, Peter’s father, was a close friend of President Reagan. He also funded much of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Peter Coors grew up in Golden, a Denver suburb dominated by the sprawling Coors brewing plant. As a child he played touch football and hiked in the mountains. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and earned a degree in industrial engineering from Cornell University and a master’s in business administration from the University of Denver.

Coors, great-grandson of Adolph Coors, who founded the brewery, became chief executive of the company in 1993 and chairman in 2002. He has never held elective office but has served on numerous boards and was former president of Ducks Unlimited, a conservation and hunting advocacy group.

Those who know him say he’s not as politically conservative as his father. He has come out publicly for affirmative action and, in 1995, his company offered same-sex partner benefits. State Democratic Chairman Chris Gates remains unimpressed.

“I predict the Republicans will try very hard to say he is a different kind of Coors, maybe a Coors light,” he said. “But I think most people in this state will always associate Coors with alcohol and right-wing politics.”