Dick wadhams: “Why would I waste my vote on Maes?”

Colorado Republicans fear their party will become a minor party and lose fundraising advantages in the 2012 presidential election if its candidate for governor, tea party favorite Dan Maes, gets less than 10 percent of the vote on Nov. 2.

"It probably will happen," said Republican state party chairman Dick Wadhams. "Voters are asking, 'Why would I waste my vote on Maes? '"

Maes has lost prominent tea party and GOP backing after questions surfaced over his record as a policeman in Liberal, Kan.; fines for campaign finance violations; his equating a Denver bike-share program to a U.N. conspiracy; and his pledge to fire 2,000 state workers as governor "just like that."

Maes faces Democrat John Hickenlooper, Denver's mayor, and former GOP Rep. Tom Tancredo, who bolted from the Republican Party to run against Hickenlooper. Hickenlooper and Tancredo, of the American Constitution Party, have big leads over Maes in polls.

Colorado law defines a minor party as having polled less than 10 percent of the vote in a gubernatorial election.

If Maes doesn't meet that threshold, Colorado would be the only state in the nation where Republicans are considered a minor party, according to the Republican National Committee.    – More -