Colorado Republicans support Benson for presidency
Bruce Benson’s involvement with GOP politics over the years has left many wondering if he will be able to leave partisan issues behind if he is elected to be CU’s 22nd president.
However, some Colorado Republicans say the controversy surrounding Benson’s candidacy is overblown.
“I don’t see how he would be using the presidency as a partisan position- I don’t think it is a partisan position,” Republican state Rep. Kent Lambert said.
Lambert compared Benson’s political background with incumbent CU president Hank Brown’s.
Check out our 11-part Benson series
“Brown was a U.S. senator, he obviously had some political background, but he had certain values that enabled him to be leader of the university,” Lambert said.
Peggy Littleton of Colorado Springs, a Republican member of Colorado’s State Board of Education, said she agrees with Lambert.
“I believe that Benson would be like Hank Brown was- fair and balanced,” Littleton said. “He looked out for the best interests of the students of Colorado.”
Littleton said that she believes CU students and staff opposed to Benson’s presidency are fighting against something that could be beneficial to them.
“Clearly Benson has great leadership and has been a strong advocate for education,” Littleton said. “I think CU and its professors would be cutting off their noses to spite their face if they were to have a problem with him because of his political involvement.”
Littleton supported her ideas of Benson with by describing her experiences working with him.
“I worked with Benson on the P-20 council and found him very fair and equitable,” Littleton said.
Republican state Rep. Larry Liston said he has also met Benson.
“I met Bruce Benson on several occasions, and he seemed like a very intelligent and hardworking man,” Liston said. “I think he will be able to disassociate politics from the presidency.”
Benson has been involved in numerous GOP affairs and most recently was the political and finance chairman for Mitt Romney’s aborted presidential campaign.
In 2007, the Benson Mineral Group, an oil and gas company of which Benson is president, donated $25,000 to the Colorado Republican Committee.
Over the years, Benson himself has contributed money to many GOP campaigns. Since 2007, he has donated money to the Republican campaigns of Frank McNulty, David Balmer, Steve King and Cory Gardner.
In 2006, Benson, along with Pete Coors and Bill Owens, founded the Trailhead Group, a 527 group named for the U.S. tax code that governs organizations whose primary objective is to influence campaigns.
The Trailhead Group ran attack ads against Democrats and tried to create Republican voter mobilization.
In 1994, Benson ran for governor of Colorado, but lost to Democrat Roy Romer.
Benson’s candidacy is being criticized for more than just his political past, however.
Open forums have been held where CU students and faculty voiced concerns ranging from his academic record to his oil-tycoon background.
However, some have chosen to defend Benson.
“I think you could go with any candidate for university president based on academic background and find gaps,” Lambert said. “You could hire a history major- will he be adequately grounded in science? You could hire a science major- will he be adequately grounded in foreign language? So you can’t find someone to cover the full ground.”
Liston said that he believes that a president of a university does not need to have a doctorate or a master’s degree to be successful.
“Various other institutions have presidents who do not have a Ph.D. or a master’s who are doing a fine job,” Liston said. “Frankly there have been many presidents at CU who did have a Ph.D. and who did a lousy job.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Jon Tattum at jon.tattum@thecampuspress.com
