A September 23 Rocky Mountain News article about the 5th Congressional District election reported a remark by the campaign manager for Republican candidate Doug Lamborn that “Doug enjoys widespread Republican support in this district.” However, the paper did not report, as it has in the past, that retiring Republican incumbent Joel Hefley has refused to endorse Lamborn. The article further omitted the fact that other Republican leaders reportedly asked Hefley to consider running as a write-in candidate against Lamborn.

The article about the 5th District race by Dick Foster reported that Colorado Springs City Councilman Scott Hente plans to vote for Democrat Jay Fawcett, noting that Hente, an Air Force Academy graduate, combat veteran and “longtime Republican,” was voting for Fawcett because of Fawcett's military experience. The article then reported a claim by Lamborn's campaign manager Jon Hotaling who said, “There's no one else other than [Fawcett's] Republican friends who are endorsing him” and that “Doug [Lamborn] enjoys widespread Republican support in this district.”

In reporting Hotaling's claim, the News did not note, as it reported September 8, that Hefley refused to endorse Lamborn and that “Hefley repeated his scathing condemnation of Lamborn's campaign Thursday, calling it 'one of the sleaziest, most dishonest campaigns I've seen in a long time.' ” Furthermore, the September 8 article noted that “Hefley declined a request by some Republicans to initiate a write-in campaign and run for his own seat again” and that “Republican dissatisfaction with Lamborn could provide an opening for Democrats, who have never held the 5th Congressional District seat since it was created in 1972.”

As Colorado Media Matters has noted, this is not the first time the News has omitted the fact that Hefley refused to endorse Lamborn.

From the September 23 News article:

City Councilman Scott Hente is an Air Force Academy graduate, a combat veteran and a longtime Republican, but next month, he'll be voting for Democrat Jay Fawcett for Congress.

The race to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Joel Hefley in Colorado's 5th Congressional District is a race of clashing loyalties for many military veterans who have retired here - the Republican Party on one hand, a brother-in-arms on the other.

Fawcett, 50, is an Air Force Academy graduate, served in the first Gulf War in 1991, and has worked for a private defense contractor since retiring from the service in 1998.

He faces two-term state Sen. Doug Lamborn, 52, an anti-tax conservative without military experience who has pledged his full support to President Bush's policies on the Iraq war and the war on terrorism.

Hente, deeply concerned about the ongoing chaos in Iraq, is opting for Fawcett because he believes there is too little military experience in Congress to make seasoned military judgments.

[...]

Some military veterans say they won't consider Fawcett.

“I was a Democrat all my life, up until Kennedy,” said Dick Carney, a World War II veteran who enjoyed an afternoon cocktail at the Retired Enlisted Association. “After that, the Democrats got too liberal and I went Republican. I'll vote Republican no matter what.”

The enlisted association and its counterpart, the Military Officers Association of America, remain nonpartisan and endorse no candidates.

Lamborn's campaign director, Jon Hotaling, said Fawcett's military support is not significant across the district.

“There's no one else other than Jay's Republican friends who are endorsing him,” said Hotaling. “Doug enjoys widespread Republican support in this district and Jay Fawcett's liberal views are out of line with the vast majority of voters.”

Although Lamborn never served in the military, he is familiar with military and veterans' issues. In the legislature, he served on the veterans and military affairs committee, Hotaling said.

Marvin Strait, a prominent local accountant and longtime Republican, said Fawcett also appeals to non-military Republicans because “he's not a left-leaning liberal but a common sense kind of guy.”

“I'm talking to several people who don't want to publicize it, but they've indicated when they do their secret ballot, that's the way they're going to vote,” Strait said.

“There's a lot of general discontent with Lamborn,” Strait said, over his close ties with far-right evangelical Christians and his anti-tax pledge that does not address runaway federal deficits.