In an August 23 article by reporter Tracy Harmon about Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez's recent campaign stops in Cañon City and Alamosa, The Pueblo Chieftain uncritically repeated an apparently unsubstantiated accusation by Beauprez against his Democratic opponent, Bill Ritter: "'This is a serious election,' Beauprez said, maintaining that Ritter has distorted facts."

Harmon's article, which did not evaluate the accuracy of Beauprez's charge, cited no examples of any such alleged “distort[ions]” by Ritter and included no response or any other statements from the Ritter campaign.

The only other mentions of Ritter in the article were Beauprez's assertion that Ritter “would not invest [state] funds the way [Beauprez] would” and Beauprez's statement that, in the Chieftain's words, “Ritter has spent his entire career inside the city and county of Denver and selected a running mate from the same area.” As Colorado Media Matters has noted, but Harmon did not, both Ritter and Beauprez grew up on farms in areas that are now considered part of metro Denver. Beauprez currently lives in Arvada, a Denver suburb.

From Harmon's August 23 Pueblo Chieftain article, “Beauprez talks water in two regional stops”:

[Beauprez] said his opponent, Democrat Bill Ritter, would not invest funds the way he would. Beauprez said he was not in favor of Referendum C because he did not think it would fix the state's financial problems but since it passed, the money should be used wisely to reduce debt and any excess should be invested to reduce taxes.

[...]

“This is a serious election,” Beauprez said, maintaining that Ritter has distorted facts.

He said Ritter has spent his entire career inside the city and county of Denver and selected a running mate from the same area. He said he is proud his running mate is from Mesa County.