Mike Coffman, the State Treasurer and Tom Tancredo, an anti-immigration Congressman from Colorado have both decided not to enter to U.S. Senate race in Colorado. So too has Scott McInnis, who had been widely viewed as the front runner in the race. McInnis will join a politically connnected law firm that also has Tom Strickland, former Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful as a partner, at the end of his House term. This means a vacancy election for his 3rd CD seat covering the Western Slope and Pueblo is unlikely.
Bob Schaeffer, who reprsented Marilyn Musgrave's 4th CD from 1996-2002, Jane Norton, the Lt. Governor, and James Nicholson, the former Republican National Committee chairman and Colorado developer who is now ambassador to the Vatican, are the top names being vetted for the race now. Schaeffer is the only candidate who has officially announced on the Republican side, however.
Ken Salazar, Colorado's attorney general, has all but cleared the field, after announcing that he would run for U.S. Senate. Mike Miles, his leading challenger remains in the race, but his statements that he will stay in the race now sound petuluent instead of valiant.
(Kos update: I've talked to Democrats in Tancredo's district who are actually GLAD they'll get to run against him. Apparently, Tancredo is disliked by a number of Republicans in the right-leaning district. A new Republican would've had a lock on the seat, but Tancredo is vulnerable to his opponent -- a conservative Dem.)