Bob Beauprez

Former GOP gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez and U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) have talked about one of them  running for governor in 2010, according to Face The State.

"I did meet with Tom to talk about one us running," Beauprez told the conservative news Web site. "But I thought he might prefer to take a little skin off of (incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen.) Ken Salazar."

Beauprez told Face The State while it's too early to say whether he'll run or not, he "hasn't ruled anything out."

UPDATED 8:00 P.M. 10/23/2008 

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Arvada) is targeting Catholic voters in Colorado with robocalls aimed at Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Mark Udall and 4th Congressional District Democratic nominee Betsy Markey.

In the calls, Beauprez talks in a prerecorded message about the "five non-negotiables" of Catholic doctrine -- opposition to abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage, embryonic stem-cell research and human cloning.

Beauprez then lauds the Republican candidate -- U.S. Senate nominee Bob Schaffer or U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Fort Morgan), depending on the call -- and says their opponent is on the wrong side of each of those issues.

The calls are being paid for by a new group led by Beauprez called Informed Catholic Citizens.

The recently created 7th Congressional District was drawn to be a very competitive district -- and some considered it the most competitive in the country -- but this year's race appears to be anything but competitive.

In 2000, Vice President Gore narrowly carried the district over George W. Bush by 49.8 percent to 48.9 percent. In 2002, Bob Beauprez (R-Arvada) won the seat by just 121 votes, representing a miniscule 0.07 percent margin. U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) won the district by 51.4 percent to 48.2 percent over President Bush.

Republicans held the district since 2002 but lost control in 2006 when Beauprez vacated the seat to run for governor. That year, Democrat Ed Perlmutter of Aurora defeated Republican Rick O'Donnell by 54 - 37 percent.

Recent trends suggest the district is becoming more Democratic. The percentage of voters registered as Democrats increased from 33.5 percent in 2004 to 34.0 percent in 2007, while Republican registration dropped from 31.8 percent to 30.5 percent during the same period.

Now it appears that Republicans have all but given up on trying to win back the district. Perlmutter's Republican challenger, John Lerew, has raised under $6,000 so far and had under $3,000 in cash on hand as of the end of the 2nd quarter.