Ben Marter

U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave’s latest television ad accuses Democratic opponent Betsy Markey of using her position as a congressional staffer to enrich her company through no-bid government contracts.

Markey and her former boss, U.S. Ken Salazar (D-Denver) quickly denounced the ad as “absolutely false in every way” and pointed out that Musgrave’s campaign has not offered any evidence of wrongdoing.

The ad claims “Millionaire Markey” used her job as a Salazar’s Northern Colorado district director in Fort Collins to get “rich on non-competitive Halliburton-style government contracts” given to her information technology company, Syscom Services.

Vice President Dick Cheney will be in Littleton on Wednesday to attend a private fundraiser for U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan), the Grand Junction Sentinel's Political Notebook is reporting.

As Political Notebook pointed out, the visit will likely spark an outcry from liberals seeking to connect Musgrave with the unpopular Bush Administration.

A spokesperson for Democratic opponent Betsy Markey said Musgrave "is forgetting about her constituents" as "her first major event back in Colorado is down in Denver with Dick Cheney."

Ben Marter, press secretary for the state Senate Democrats, announced Tuesday that he's signed on as 4th Congressional District Democratic candidate Betsy Markey's communication director.

Marter said he's taking a leave of absence from his Senate press job in order to take on the campaign job. He started in the new position Monday.

Marter will work out of Markey's Fort Collins office.