Two new ballot initiatives could change the way Coloradans buy booze and pot, The Denver Post reports. The first is a plan to rearrange many of the regulations limiting how and where full-strength beer, wine and liquor can be sold in Colorado. Initiative 47, backed by the Colorado-based Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, is far broader than the group’s last statewide attempt in 2006 to legalize the possession of small amounts of pot. That proposal failed by a wide margin, with 58 percent of voters voting in opposition.

So who’s really ahead in the race to be Colorado’s next governor? It depends on which poll you’re looking at, KDVR reports. A new poll released Wednesday by Public Policy Polling shows the Democrat, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, with a 50-39 percent edge over Republican Scott McInnis, a former congressman from Grand Junction who is likely to be the GOP’s nominee. According to that survey of 580 likely voters, Hickenlooper is better known and more popular than McInnis — across the board and with independents.

Poll results here.

In other coverage:

Politico: Two polls released this week give starkly different pictures of the Colorado governor’s race. A Public Policy Polling survey released Wednesday shows Democrat John Hickenlooper, the mayor of Denver, with an 11-point lead over former GOP Rep. Scott McInnis. Just two days earlier, a Rasmussen Reports poll had McInnis ahead of Hickenlooper by a margin of six percent.

By Gene Davis, DENVER DAILY NEWS
Republican Scott McInnis has taken the lead from Democrat Mayor John Hickenlooper in the latest Rasmussen poll of likely Colorado voters.
The McInnis campaign believes Hickenlooper’s decision to not take an immediate stance on a series of controversial bills that levied the state sales tax on a variety of goods has at least partially hurt Hickenlooper in the polls for the gubernatorial race. A spokesman for Hickenlooper declined to comment on the possible impact that not taking a stance on the bills has had on the campaign.
A telephone poll conducted on March 4 of 500 likely Colorado voters gave McInnis a 48-percent to 42-percent advantage over Hickenlooper in the gubernatorial race. After Gov. Bill Ritter announced last month that he would not seek reelection, Hickenlooper bounced out to a 49-percent to 45-percent lead over McInnis.
“What’s been different since the last poll has been us just hammering away on these tax increases,” said McInnis spokesman Scott Brown. “Obviously the Mayor has, by his silence, supported them (the tax bills).”
Meanwhile, Hickenlooper Spokesman George Merritt said that they only care about one poll, the one that happens on Election Day.

Tax bills
Political analyst and Denver Daily News columnist Aaron Harber believes the latest Rasmussen poll proves that the gubernatorial race is very close and volatile. He expects the polls to switch back and forth several more times before elections are held on Nov. 2.
“When you have those kinds of shifts within a matter of four weeks, it shows you that there probably is a large number of voters willing to go either way,” he said.
Harber expects that most voters will give Hickenlooper until summer to take a stance on controversial measures like the tax increase bills. For their part, Hickenlooper’s campaign said last month that the mayor “understands and supports the important work lawmakers are doing at the state Capitol,” and that commenting on pending legislation doesn’t make that job any simpler or more effective. Hickenlooper will comment on the bills after the legislature session ends, his campaign said.
But failing to take a position for too long could end up being fatal since voters don’t like candidates not taking a stance on an issue, said Harber.
“The challenge of a campaign and a candidate who wants to avoid taking a position is to gauge how long they can get away with that,” he said. “If you push it too far, you will get a reputation of not being substantive, and that’s very unacceptable to voters in the current political environment.”
Harber noted that McInnis has also been criticized for failing to take substantive positions in the past.

Amazon backlash
Brown said that Amazon.com’s recent decision to close the accounts of all Colorado sales “associates,” which are people or businesses that advertise Amazon products and make a commission on all sales that they personally generate, proves that the tax bills were a bad idea.
“Scott said if you sign these bills, if you pass these bills, you’re going to cost jobs,” said he said.
But Democrats have blasted Amazon’s decision as a disservice to Coloradans. For one, the bill that requires online retailers to collect and pay the 2.9-percent state sales tax is only enforcing a law already on the books. Ritter in a statement pointed out that his office worked closely with Amazon’s affiliates and associates to modify the bill to protect small businesses and avoid job losses.
“Amazon has taken a disappointing — and completely unjustified — step of ending its relationship with associates,” said a statement from Ritter. “While Amazon is blaming a new state law for its action, the fact is that Amazon is simply trying to avoid compliance with Colorado law and is unfairly punishing Colorado businesses in the process.”
Harber said that while some voters will likely remain upset that they now have to pay the state sales tax on some Internet purchases, others might end up supporting the measure because it evens the playing field between out-of-state giants like Amazon and local stores like Tattered Cover.
The Internet tax measure was one of nine bills that suspended or eliminated tax credits and exemptions on goods like soda, candy, and select software purchases. Ritter signed the bills into law last month.

STATE BILL COLORADO
Republican Shawn Rodwell, a school counselor for the Arickaree Liberty school districts, on Friday filed paperwork to run for the Senate District 1 seat held by GOP incumbent Greg Brophy. Rodwell is a resident of Anton. Democrat Michael Bowman previously filed to run in the district.
State Bill Colorado puts SD-1 in the category of seats that are “less than competitive” or “not competitive,” owing to Republicans voter registration there of 51 percent. Unaffiliated voters make up 29 percent of the district, and Democrats trail with 21 percent. Eight of 19 Senate seats up in November are deemed competitive because no party has more than 40 percent of registered voters.
State Bill has updated its 2010 Election Tracker, below, to note Rodwell’s candidacy.

Eric Olsen

STATE BILL COLORADO
Eric Olsen of Aurora has stepped forward to challenge freshman Rep. Su Ryden in Colorado’s House District 36. He filed paperwork recently to run as a Republican. Olsen, a 1991 West Point grad, works as an office services coordinator for EnCana Oil & Gas.
Ryden handily defeated her previous GOP opponent, Kathy Green, in 2008.
Because Democrats enjoy voter registration of more than 40 percent in HD-36 (the number actually is 42 percent), State Bill Colorado places this district among the 43 in Colorado that are “less than competitive” or “not competitive.” Thirty-three percent of voters here are unaffiliated, and 25 percent are Republican.
State Bill has updated its Election Tracker, below, to reflect Olsen’s candidacy.

STATE BILL COLORADO
Suddenly, where no challengers existed, three now stand.
Republican Kevin Priola, who beat big odds to win the Democratic leaning House District 30, now has three competitors: bail bondswoman Mary Ellen Pollack, Laura Huerta and former Brighton mayor David Rose.
If Rose’s name sounds familiar, that’s because he was the candidate whom Priola narrowly defeated in 2008, 11,935 to 11,505. The outcome stunned Democrats during President Obama’s election year; Democrat Mary Hodge held the seat for four terms before her election to Colorado’s Senate.
With the exception of Priola’s election, not much has changed since in the district. HD-30 had 38 percent registered Democrats, 36 percent unaffiliateds and 26 percent Republicans. Because no party has 40 percent of the voter totals, State Bill Colorado places HD-30 among the 22 of 65 House districts that are “truly competitive” in 2010.
As a result of the new Democratic candidacies, State Bill has updated its Election Tracker below.

Peter Douglas Ericson

STATE BILL COLORADO
Peter Ericson is attempting to do what no one has since 1891: win a Colorado House seat as an unaffiliated candidate. He filed paperwork to run in House District 44, which is currently held by term-limited Republican Minority Leader Rep. Mike May. Three GOP candidates previously filed.
As it happens, Colorado currently has an unaffiliated representative in office. Rep. Kathleen Curry of Gunnison was elected as a Democrat, however, and affiliated from her former party during this election year. She, too, is running as an unaffiliated during the 2010 election cycle.
Ericson, 25, wants to create jobs through buy locally campaigns. He also seeks to lower the number of people in the justice system.
House District 44 has 47 percent of its voters registered as Republican, putting it among the 43 districts that State Bill Colorado considers “less than competitive” or “not competitive.” Thirty-one percent of voters are registered as unaffiliated voters, and just 22 percent are registered Democratic.
State Bill has updated its 2010 Election Tracker, below, to reflect Ericson’s candidacy.

Jeanne Nicholson

STATE BILL COLORADO
Former nurse and current Gilpin County Commissioner Jeanne Nicholson, a Democrat, has filed paperwork to run for the Senate District 16 seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Dan Gibbs, who is running for the Summit County Commission.
Nicholson is the first Democrat to enter the race. Republicans Mark Hurlbert and Tim Leonard previously filed.
With unaffiliated voters topping district registration polls and Republicans and Democrats enjoying an equal number of registrants, Senate District 16 may be the most competitive in the state. Thirty-seven percent of registrants are unaffiliated; the Democratic and Republican parties each have 31 percent.
As a result of Nicholson’s candidacy, State Bill has updated its 2010 Election Tracker, below.

STATE BILL COLORADO
Ignacio sheepman J. Paul Brown is now the second Republican in the race to try to keep Rep. Ellen Roberts’ House District 59 seat in the hands of the GOP. Roberts is running for the Senate against new Sen. Bruce Whitehead, a Democrat. Whitehead was chosen by a vacancy committee to succeed Jim Isgar, who took a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Brown was for four years a La Plata County commissioner. He also has served on the Ignacio School Board.
Republicans hold a majority of registered voters in the district, with 36 percent. But because no party has 40 percent, State Bill Colorado considers the district one of 22 in Colorado that are “truly competitive.” Thirty-two percent of HD-59 voters are unaffiliated, and 31 percent are Democrats.
As a result of Brown’s candidacy, State BIll has updated its 2010 Election Tracker.

STATE BILL COLORADO
Former school board president Bill McCreary of Loveland has filed to challenge first-year GOP Rep. Brian DelGrosso in Colorado’s House District 51.
Until November, McCreary served as president of the Thompson R2-J school board. DelGrosso, who owns three Domino’s Pizza franchises, was picked by a vacancy committee to succeed former Rep. Don Marostica, who took the top economic-development job in the administration of Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter.
Republicans hold a solid majority in the district, with 41 percent of voters registered GOP, 34 percent unaffiliated and 24 percent Democratic. Consequently, State Bill Colorado considers it among 43 House districts that are “less than competitive” or “not competitive.”
State BIll has updated its 2010 Election Tracker to reflect McCreary’s candidacy.