This odd intra-party squabble appears to be settled for the most part. The Rocky Mountain News reports:

Upon learning that prominent Republicans - including Independence Institute President Jon Caldara, former Senate president John Andrews and former treasurer Mark Hillman - were exerting pressure to kill it, he told the Rocky Mountain News: "They're has-beens. They're losers."

That remark earned the second-term legislator a meeting with state GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams, at which Marostica got their phone numbers and agreed to apologize.

Despite rumors of a push to strip Marostica of his post on the Joint Budget Committee, party leaders did not punish him.

Lobbing bombs at Mark Hillman isn't too likely to be helpful to Marostica in the long-run, especially coming from the area Marostica is in.

Here's the full text of Mark Hillman's surprise announcement he will not be seeking office in 2010:

Next, I wanted to you to hear it first from me:  I have decided not to seek elected office in 2010.  Much has changed since I last ran in 2006 - my wife and I have "settled down" in my hometown of Burlington and a six-month-old boy has drastically changed our priorities.  Campaigning for statewide or federal office is very demanding and our party deserves candidates who are willing to make that campaign a top priority.  At this time, that simply isn't a commitment I am willing to make.

I am truly grateful for your support over the years and if, in a few years, it turns out that another campaign is right for me, for my family, and for Colorado, I would be honored to again have your support.

In the meantime, I intend to work hard as your friend, as a conservative committed to limited government and constitutional freedom, and as your Republican National Committeeman to do all I can to help our candidates and our party succeed by returning to our roots and unifying around our core conservative principles.

Now, if your typical politician cited family concerns as their reason for not running it would usually be code for "I did something bad and don't want anyone to find out." The great thing about Mark is that he means what he says and that is exactly why his decision not to run is such a loss for the party and the state of Colorado.

You can cross one of the prime candidates for office in 2010 off your list. Mark Hillman, often viewed as a leading candidate for Senate or Governor in 2010, has ruled out a run for any elective office in 2010. Mike Saccone of the Grand Junction Sentinel reports:

Former Republican Burlington state Sen. Mark Hillman will not run for elected office in 2010, told Political Notebook today.

“Just wanted to give you a heads up that I’ve begun telling my closest friends and best supporters that I will NOT be running for office in 2010,” Hillman said in an e-mail.

I'm sorry to see him take himself out of the running. He would have been an excellent candidate for any office he opted to run for. There are going to be a lot of people disappointed that they won't get to cast a vote for Mark Hillman against Michael Bennet.

This also turns the U.S. Senate upside down on the Republican side. Ryan Frazier and Bob Beauprez are now the only serious potential candidates looking at the race for the time being. The weeks ahead will tell if Frazier can solidify party support behind himself or if a lot of would-be Hillman supporters will flock to Beauprez out of a lingering sense of loyalty.

The RMR Senate straw poll closed down automatically at noon yesterday, and if the results are indicative at all of the party as a whole then we could see a very fiercely contested primary. Ryan Frazier is the winner of the poll, enjoying a razor-thin victory of only 3 votes out of 155 over Mark Hillman. Bob Beauprez managed to pull 19% of the votes to come in third place, which indicates he still has some base of support out there but would face an uphill battle in a primary. Bentley Rayburn, who is said in some circles to be looking at the Senate race just as he did in 2008, barely registers.

Ryan Frazier 40% (62 votes)
Mark Hillman 38% (59 votes)
Bob Beauprez 19% (29 votes)
Bentley Rayburn 3% (5 votes)

Stay tuned for a gubernatorial straw poll later today.

Poll closes in one week.

In a surprising move, John Suthers has reversed course and decided not to stand as a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2010. Chris Rizo at LegalNewsline reports:

As for a possible Senate bid, Suthers said while it is a "marvelous opportunity" and that he would be able to be a viable candidate against Salazar's successor, Democrat and former Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet.

Suthers said the fundraising demands would be too onerous.

This is a very sudden reversal for Suthers. His U.S. Senate candidacy had been considered by most insiders a "sure thing" earlier this month. Only in the last few days did rumors begin to spread that Suthers was getting cold feet.

His run for U.S. Senate was considered so likely that Weld County D.A. Ken Buck and U.S. attorney Troy Eid were already gathering support to run for attorney general, Suthers' current job. Buck has previously hinted at an interest in running for CD-4 while Troy Eid has hinted at an interest in running for, well, anything...

As for the Senate race, the departure of Suthers could create an opening for someone like Mark Hillman or Ryan Frazier to tie up a considerable amount of early support now freed up.

It's official: Ken Salazar is going to be Secretary of the Interior. This obviously makes his seat one of the hottest in the country going into 2010. Bill Ritter will appoint a replacement for Salazar, but they will have next to no time in office making this basically an open seat. This also has the effect of causing some major upheaval in the Republican primary fields for the statewide races in 2010. Everyone had been seemingly lining up to challenge Bill Ritter because he looked more vulnerable than Salazar. Now, with Salazar gone, many candidates who were previously considering gubernatorial campaigns will go over to the Senate race.

Josh Penry, who has been rumored to have been looking at both CD-3 and the Governor's race, would be a more logical candidate for Salazar's Senate seat at this point. Penry's relatively young age could be a problem running against an incumbent for an executive office. A run for the open Senate seat would play to Penry's strengths on the other hand. His experience as a State Representative, Senate Minority Leader, and staffer for Scott McInnis make him just as qualified as anyone the Democrats could put forward for the seat.

John Suthers considered running for Wayne Allard's seat this year. He is very likely to consider running again now that the field is wide open.

Mark Hillman narrowly lost a statewide race in 2006. He has statewide name ID from that race and from his long record as a state legislator. Hillman would be running in a more favorable environment for Republicans than 2006 and could escape the circular firing squad that the CD-4 primary is likely to be.

Bob Beauprez and Tom Tancredo have both floated their names in the Governor's race. As Congressmen, a Senate contest would make more sense for them. It's hard to see Beauprez gaining traction in a statewide campaign though, and Tancredo's high negatives make winning a Senate race just as impossible as winning against Ritter.

Former Gov. Bill Owens, who has been seemingly disinterested in running against Ken Salazar, may reconsider joining the 2010 race now that the seat is open.

Two-time CD-5 candidate Bentley Rayburn is likely to make noise about running for Senate, just as he inexplicably did last time.

The fields for the Governor and Senate races are going to take shape quickly over the coming months. This is a positive devlopment for Colorado Republicans not only because Salazar's seat is even more vulnerable, but also because some of the deadlock in the Governor's race will be alleviated.

It seems that talk of a primary against Ken Salazar is spreading beyond the blogosphere. The Denver Post reports that Ken Salazar is kicking off his fundraising early, in part because of anticipation of a potential costly primary:

A few factors could drive up campaign costs, he said.

Ritter, who's earned the ire of the deep -pocketed oil and gas industry this year, will have to boost fundraising efforts if Republicans quickly field a candidate with money and name recognition on par with his own, Saunders said.

And discontent with Salazar's moderate stances has some left-leaning Democrats hoping for a primary challenger.

Republicans will have a challenge in both races when it comes to fundraising. A former congressman with a Washington fundraising base (i.e. Scott McInnis) or someone with strong statewide name I.D. (i.e. Bill Owens or Mark Hillman) would be the most competitive in Senate race fundraising. As for the gubernatorial race, at least two potential candidates (Marc Holtzman and Don Marostica) would have the option of self-funding.

Whomever Republicans field as their candidates in these two races, conservative bloggers need to take the lead this election cycle in helping to raise money.

Rocky Mountain Right readers lean towards Marc Holtzman and Josh Penry as their top choices for Governor in 2010. In a hypothetical four-way match-up between Marc Holtzman, Josh Penry, Mark Hillman, and Tom Tancredo; both Holtzman and Penry topped 30% support out of over 100 votes cast. "None of the above" took 18% of the votes.

Ironically, the only one of these four to have made any solid moves towards running for Governor placed dead last. Tancredo came in with only 9%.

(Poll closed)

Mark Hillman is taking aim at Ritter, Salazar, and Udall in the Journal-Advocate:

Udall boasts of his sponsorship of a bill to allow U.S. companies to engage in exploration off the coast of Cuba, but his bill is mere window dressing.

In nearly a year since its introduction in the Democrat-controlled Congress, Udall’s bill hasn’t even been scheduled for a hearing.

To make matters worse, Udall and Salazar team up with Gov. Bill Ritter to stonewall against responsible energy development on the Roan Plateau.

Meanwhile, Ritter still expects the energy industry to provide more tax revenue.

Roan Plateau contains an estimated 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas — enough to heat every home in Colorado for 20 years. Bureau of Land Management would allow drilling on no more than 1 percent of the plateau’s surface at any time.

Yet Salazar, Udall and Ritter want to stall the process (which began in 1997 under President Clinton), impose even more restrictions, and then tell the bidders where to drill first. If any of the three knew so much about energy exploration, he could be making a fortune as a geologist.

Say what you will about oil and gas producers, but remember that they don’t get paid if they don’t produce. If Salazar, Udall and Ritter get their way, Coloradans will be sitting atop vast oil and gas reserves but sending our money to the likes of OPEC and Hugo Chavez.

This is only an excerpt of the full article by Hillman. Expect to see much more on energy coming from Republicans as this election heats up.

Mark Hillman has just made his intent to run for RNC National Committeeman known to the public. From an e-mail sent to his mailing list:

I want you to be among the first to know that I have decided to seek election to be Colorado's Republican National Committeeman.  I view this as an opportunity to continue to be a strong voice for the conservative principles that have made our party strong - and which we compromise only at our own peril.  If you are a delegate or alternate to the Republican State Convention, I would be grateful to know that I can count on your support.  Thank you!

Hillman will be an excellent National Committeeman and anyone headed to the State Convention should support him.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ran an interview with Mark Hillman in which he stated that he is open to a future run for office:

Former state treasurer and Burlington state Sen.Mark Hillman said he is open to future runs for public office — but he is not actively considering any right now.

“I’m not ruling anything out, but at the same time I don’t get up in the morning trying to figure out how to torture myself by running for office,” Hillman told Political Notebook.

When asked if he could someday see himself as governor, Hillman laughed.

“It’ll be a big surprise to me if that’s the case,” he said.

While Mark might be too modest to admit it, his strong record built on fiscal conservatism as a State Senator and State Treasurer might be the perfect foil to Gov. Ritter's increasingly reckless tax-and-spend policies. There are also rumors that Rep. Marilyn Musgrave may be eyeing retirement in 2010, in which case Mark Hillman would be the odds-on favorite if he chooses to run.

(H/T Mount Virtus)