Did Josh Penry Say He Wouldn’t Run for Guv in 2010?

The big question in the 2010 race for governor this week is whether Republican Josh Penry ever promised not to run for the seat.

It seems he might have made such a commitment, especially if you recall a 2006 article in The Colorado Independent (back when it was called Colorado Confidential). The Independent quotes Penry as stating: “I won’t run for another office while I’m serving Senate District 7.”

Or maybe Penry, who announced his campaign just weeks ago, was saying he’d simply finish his four-year term before taking another office when he signed a pledge during a Club 20 debate in his hometown, Grand Junction. Penry says it’s definitely the latter and that he’s keeping his promise, writes The Denver Post.

“This is total fiction from the same left-wing blogs that accused me of colluding with George W. Bush to cause this recession. They make it up as they go,” Penry claims. “Tell them to dust the pledge off and read it.”

Unfortunately, nobody can find the pledge.

And the Independent’s David O. Williams claims the Independent never accused Penry of colluding with Bush: “Must have been ColoradoPols,” he writes, referring to the popular political blog.

As that debate rages, one of Penry’s GOP competitors, former U.S. Representative Scott McInnis, says a telephone poll gives him twice the support of Republicans than Penry, his one-time aide, according to the Grand Junction Sentinel. Nevertheless, Penry is “barnstorming” the state with a campaign message of restoring credibility to the Republican Party, writes The Pueblo Chieftain.