Tom Tancredo may run for office again

The former Congressman is considering another run for governor of Colorado

Published May 16, 2013 1:31PM (EDT)

 (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Former Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., an immigration hard-liner who once suggested sending Obama "back" to Kenya, is considering another bid for governor in 2014.

The Denver Post reports:

Contacted Wednesday by The Denver Post, Tancredo said he has not yet made a final decision.

In 2010, Tancredo ran in a tumultuous gubernatorial contest as a third-party candidate, netting more than 35 percent of the vote in a lopsided Democratic victory by then-Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Republican candidate Dan Maes received 11 percent of the vote.

Tancredo served in Congress from 1999-2009, and made an unsuccessful bid for president in 2008.

In a March op-ed for The Christian Post, he wrote of immigration reform: "[T]he problem is that not one congressman or major commentator has called for deporting all 12 million illegal immigrants. Rather, we argue that strict enforcement of employer sanctions and allowing local police to cooperate in immigration enforcement will encourage most illegals to, in Mitt Romney's words, 'self-deport.'"


By Jillian Rayfield

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

MORE FROM Jillian Rayfield


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Birthers Colorado Immigration Pot Republicans Tom Tancredo