Curtis Coleman Officially Begins His Uphill Climb

Curtis Coleman will officially begin his uphill climb, long-shot run at the Governor’s office today in an announcement at 11:30 at the state capitol.  He has already announced this many times not only earlier this month, but over the last several years.

As far back as August 2011, Coleman wrote to supporters telling them, “So after weeks (more like months) of prayer and discussion, including your counsel and theirs, Kathryn and I have come to the understanding that we should significantly expand the activities and public visibility (and hopefully the impact) of The Institute, and that I should plan to run for Governor in 2014.”

The uphill race will be Coleman’s second political race.  He ran for U.S. Senate in 2010 finishing fifth out of eight.  He has a long road to prove that he can improve to finishing as a credible candidate this time around.

For starters, his track record on raising money has not been strong.  His Senate campaign is still almost $80,000 in debt over two years later.  By Coleman’s estimate, it will take between $6 million and $10 million to run a successful campaign.  In his Senate campaign,  Coleman raised about $155,000.  Consider me skeptical that he can raise 50 times what he raised last time.

So far it appears Coleman’s strategy is to organize his grassroots network throughout the state.  In this respect, he seems to be doing a pretty good job laying this groundwork.  He has signed up the seventh- and eighth-place finishers in his Senate primary – Rep. Randy Alexander and Fred Ramey. He does not have any big names, but has quite a few of the anti-establishment type of Republicans signed on early.

But the establishment appears to be lining up behind former Congressman Asa Hutchinson who already has the endorsement of Lt.  Governor Mark Darr and likely will add to this with some more big names as the campaign get going.  It is also likely that Hutchinson will run circles around Coleman in terms of fundraising.

And if Coleman does get his campaign off the ground, he will have to face some tough questions such as how much political activity his Institute of Constitutional Policy was involved in – a no-no for tax-exempt organizations.  He also will likely have some different questions regarding his business experience working for his father-in-law at Safe Foods Corp., which was the recipient of millions in state bonds.  Both of these items Coleman lists as his credentials for seeking office in his announcement.

If his campaign gains traction, he will begin to get scrutiny on such qualifications, but it might be an uphill battle before anyone really even takes him seriously enough to ask.