In a September 20 column titled “Entz feels Salazar's slap,” Rocky Mountain News political columnist Peter Blake wrote that Republican state Sen. Lewis Entz (Hooper) “is upset by [Democratic U.S. Senator Ken] Salazar's endorsement of his challenger this year.” Blake noted that Entz had endorsed Salazar for Colorado attorney general in 1998 and 2002, and quoted Entz as saying, “What gripes me is I supported him twice and he supported me once.” But Blake omitted the fact that Entz reportedly endorsed Salazar's opponent, Republican Pete Coors, during the 2004 senatorial election.

In his column, Blake noted that a “photo in The Pueblo Chieftain shows U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar grippin' and grinnin' with [Democrat] Gail Schwartz [Entz's opponent] as he endorses her bid for election in state Senate District 5.” But unlike Blake, Charles Ashby of the Chieftain reported in a September 19 article about Salazar's endorsement of Schwartz that Entz “backed Republican Pete Coors against Salazar in the 2004 senatorial race.”

Both Blake and the Chieftain noted Entz's claim that Salazar had promised not to endorse either candidate in Entz's 2006 race. But Blake reported that Salazar spokesman Jim Carpenter disputed Entz's assertion, saying that Salazar had told Entz at an April meeting that “he wouldn't endorse anybody then, but if he changed his mind, he would call and give him advance warning.” The Chieftain stated that it had been unable to reach Salazar for comment, although the newspaper and Blake reported Salazar did call Entz to inform him of the Schwartz endorsement.

From the article titled “Salazar's support of foe rankles SLV lawmaker” in the September 19 edition of The Pueblo Chieftain:

In his endorsement of Schwartz on Saturday, Salazar said the regent for the University of Colorado who represents the 3rd Congressional District is worthy of serving in high office.

“As Colorado senator, she will champion protecting the water of the Western Slope and the San Luis Valley, addressing our health care crisis and preserving our rural communities,” Salazar said in a press release.

In 2002, Salazar said something similar in his endorsement of Entz.

“First of all, he's a strong voice for rural agriculture and water,” Salazar told The Pueblo Chieftain in February 2002. “Second, he spends more time talking and listening to constituents than anybody else I know. Third, he's a good person - the salt of the Earth.”

The Hooper farmer, who backed Republican Pete Coors against Salazar in the 2004 senatorial race, said Salazar called him on Friday to tell him he planned to endorse Schwartz.

Still, Entz said he was disappointed that Salazar broke his word not to endorse either candidate, saying he clearly gave in to pressure from the Democratic Party.

“She (Schwartz) helped him generate a lot of money during his Senate race, so I guess in that case he felt like he was obligated to do something,” Entz said. “It's a case where money, I guess, buys it.”

Salazar was unavailable for comment on Monday.

From Blake's column “Entz feels Salazar's slap” in the September 20 edition of the Rocky Mountain News:

The photo in The Pueblo Chieftain shows U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar grippin' and grinnin' with Gail Schwartz as he endorses her bid for election in state Senate District 5, his home turf.

It's a staple of the campaign season: A big-name Democrat trying to boost a lesser Democrat in her bid for public office.

So what's wrong with this picture? According to Republican state Sen. Lew Entz, whom Schwartz is trying to useat [sic], it symbolizes a broken promise by Salazar.

On Jan. 30, 2002, Salazar announced in the Capitol rotunda he would run for a second term as attorney general. The first person to congratulate him -- and give him a bottle of San Luis Valley water -- was Entz, a potato farmer from Hooper.

Entz explained that in the Valley, where both men live, “we vote for the person,” not the party. A photograph of the smiling pair appeared in the paper.

But Bob Beauprez, then chairman of the state Republican Party, was so upset by Entz's apostasy that he roared over to the Statehouse, called Entz out of a committee meeting and told him that it would cost him $50,000 in campaign contributions from the party and its supporters. Entz, who had been appointed to the Senate in 2001, was running for a full term that fall.

Entz had also endorsed Salazar in his first AG campaign in 1998 and Salazar returned the favor in 2002, backing Entz in his Senate race. Apparently that more than made up for whatever cash Entz didn't get from his party.

To say that Entz is upset by Salazar's endorsement of his challenger this year understates the case.

“Ken promised he would stay neutral in our race,” he said Tuesday. He claimed to have extracted the promise when he ran into Salazar on the south steps of the Capitol in late April. Entz asked him for an endorsement, but Salazar said as a senator he couldn't go that far.

“What gripes me is I supported him twice and he supported me once,” he said Tuesday from his farm. “Now all at once she could do a better job in the Valley than I could.

”A man's word is a man's word in rural Colorado," Entz said. “I guess anymore you gotta have a written contract.”

Entz claims that when Salazar runs for re-election to the Senate in 2010, he'll find he's “burnt a lot of bridges in the San Luis Valley.”

Jim Carpenter, a spokesman for Salazar, said the senator recalls the April meeting a little differently. He said he told Entz, whom he greatly respects, he wouldn't endorse anybody then, but if he changed his mind, he would call and give him advance warning.

And he did call. According to Entz, Salazar justified the endorsement by saying Schwartz, a University of Colorado regent, had been an effective fundraiser for him during his 2004 Senate campaign.