Colo.: Top GOP candidates split

DENVER, Sept. 3 (UPI) -- Colorado's Republican U.S. Senate nominee said Friday he is joining other key Republicans in withdrawing support for the GOP nominee for governor, Dan Maes.

Maes has come under pressure from fellow Republicans in Colorado to leave the race for governor, following several controversies having to do with campaign finance violations and apparent embellishments in his description of his background in law enforcement. He said Thursday he will not leave the race, The Denver Post reported.

Ken Buck, who won the senate primary Aug. 10, issued a statement Friday saying he will no longer support Maes, who he said is "struggling to determine the best path for his campaign, his family and for Colorado," CBS4Denver.com reported.

Other top Republicans, including former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown and former state Senate President John Andrews, pulled their support for the Maes campaign, after Maes -- an Evergreen businessman and a Tea Party favorite -- conceded his claim that he once worked as an undercover officer for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation might have included "incorrect comments." The concession followed a Denver Post article on Maes's claim.

"I have decided that I can no longer support his candidacy for governor of Colorado," Buck's statement said, without reference to the apparently false claim.

"This is a culture war, a culture war between the people and the machine, and we're going to find out who controls things," Maes said Thursday. "I am not getting out of the race."

Maes has paid a record $17,500 fine for violating campaign finance laws and has said bicycle sharing programs in Denver could pose a threat to "personal freedoms."