Tom Tancredo

Thomas Gerard Tancredo born December 20 1945 is an American politician from Colorado who represented the states sixth congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1999 to 2009 as a Republican He ran for President of the United States during the 2008 election and was the Constitution Partys unsuccessful nominee for Governor of Colorado in 2010 Tancredo was elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1976 and served two terms After working in the United States Department of Education during the Ronald Reagan and George H W Bush administrations he was elected to the United States Congress and served five terms He decided to not seek reelection in 2008 instead running a presidential campaign centered on the issues of illegal immigration and terrorism He dropped out of the race in December 2007 to assist former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney in his campaign for the nomination Tancredo announced on July 26 2010 that he planned to change parties and run for Governor of Colorado on the American Constitution Party ticket He received 617030 votes 367 coming in second place well ahead of the Republican Party nominee Dan Maes who got about 11 of the vote Tancredo ran for governor in 2014 this time as a Republican because of his opposition to Colorado governor John Hickenloopers refusal to execute convicted murderer Nathan Dunlap and because of Hickenloopers attempts to pass gun control legislation Tancredo competed for the Republican Partys nomination with Bob Beauprez Steve House Greg Brophy Mike Kopp and Scott Gessler Tancredo lost the primary to Beauprez He once again left the Republican Party in 2015 becoming an independent Tancredo again ran as a Republican for governor in 2018 but withdrew from the race