Updated: A Denver Post report that a Hogan Lovells partner running as a Republican for Colorado governor apparently plagiarized some material years ago has put Scott McInnis on the hot seat.

Former congressman Scott McInnis has no intention of withdrawing from the race for Colorado governor, his campaign said Wednesday.

But while Democrats, Front Range newspapers and conservative radio talk show hosts were calling for him to withdraw a day after McInnis admitted to plagiarism, no one in the Republican Party was doing so publicly, including his rival for the party’s nomination.

DENVER - Republicans and Democrats are debating Scott McInnis' political survival in the wake of a second allegation of plagiarism Wednesday, the filing of a formal ethics complaint and continued calls for the GOP candidate to drop out of Colorado's governor's race.

Colorado Ethics Watch Wednesday asked the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation to open an investigation into the Denver Post report on Monday that former Congressman Scott McInnis, a Republican candidate for governor, plagiarized articles on water issues that were written by now Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs.

For the formal letter requesting the investigation, go to www.coloradoforethics.org. Here’s the Ethics Watch release on the request:

DENVER -- One candidate’s run for governor in the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado has hit rocky ground after reports surfaced alleging he is a repeat plagiarist.

DENVER -- Colorado Ethics Watch has filed a complaint against Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis, saying that state attorney regulators should determine if McInnis violated the rules banning dishonesty and fraud for attorneys, CALL7 Investigators have learned.

McInnis conceded that portions of articles he submitted to the Hasan Family Foundation, as part of a $300,000 fellowship, were copied from a 1984 article by now-Supreme Court Justice Gregory Hobbs. He said a researcher made a mistake in copying the work.

A new example of possible plagiarism by Scott McInnis surfaced Tuesday as the Republican gubernatorial candidate faced calls to repay $300,000 he received for plagiarized essays on water that he submitted as "original works."

A Denver Post review of McInnis' floor speeches and columns published during his congressional career found striking similarities between a 1995 speech and 1994 column by McInnis and a previously published Op-Ed in The Washington Post.

GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Long-time local resident Rolly Fischer on Tuesday declined to say much about his involvement in a research paper that gubernatorial candidate, and former Congressman Scott McInnis wrote to meet a fellowship deadline.

“Scott's responsible for it,” stated Fisher, an engineer who worked for the Colorado River Water Conservation for, when asked whether he was responsible for articles attributed to McInnis.

Colorado gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis was flooded with attacks yesterday after multiple media outlets reported that he plagiarized material in a series of commissioned essays he wrote on water rights.

Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll, a Democrat, demanded in a statement that McInnis, a Republican, immediately withdraw from the governor’s race. Meanwhile, the chairwoman of the foundation that paid McInnis $300,000 to write the articles containing the alleged plagiarized material said they might want their money back.

 

Saying that charges Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis plagiarized portions of articles he received more than a quarter million dollars to write rendered him unfit for office, Colorado House Speaker Terrance Carroll on Tuesday called on the former six-term congressman to withdraw from the statewide race.

RELATED STORY: McInnis plagiarism charges called ‘double disappointment’ (click link to read)

Colorado Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll Tuesday called on gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis to withdraw from the race after the Denver Post published a story alleging the former six-term U.S. congressman plagiarized parts of several articles on water issues from current Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory J. Hobbs.

Although GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis presented his "Musings on Water" for publication as original works, portions are identical and nearly identical to an essay on water written 20 years earlier by now-Colorado Supreme Court Justice Gregory J. Hobbs.

A Clemson University expert who reviewed McInnis' work next to Hobbs' essay called it a clear case of plagiarism of both words and ideas.

 

Attorneys for gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes and a Grand Junction man who filed a campaign finance complaint against him are expected to sign an agreement today that will end the matter.

Grand Junction attorney Erik Groves said he and his client, Christopher Klitzke, have agreed to drop the case if Maes agreed to pay a lesser fine.

 

Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes won't fight allegations that he violated state campaign finance laws and has agreed to pay more than $27,000 in penalties and fines rather than contest the issue, according to administrative court documents filed Friday.

A final decision, however, rests with the administrative judge, who hears the case Monday.

 

Republican gubernatorial contender Dan Maes is expected to be ordered to pay what could be the largest campaign finance fine ever levied against a candidate by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.

The city of Fort Collins estimates it will pay $3,000 to $4,000 for an outside counsel to investigate an allegation that campaign spending laws were violated by organizers of an unsuccessful effort to recall City Council member Lisa Poppaw.

The city hired Englewood lawyer Scotty Krob this week as a special counsel to conduct the investigation because it stemmed from a recall effort against a City Council member.

A violation of the city's campaign finance ordinance is a misdemeanor and carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and 180 days in jail.

An ethics panel created in the aftermath of Amendment 41 has made three rulings in recent weeks, including permitting Gov. Bill Ritter and his top staff to travel to Israel on someone else's dime.

The Independent Ethics Commission, however, rejected a request from a Colorado Department of Education employee who wanted expenses covered for a trip to Turkey. That's a change from last year when the commission approved a similar trip.

Fort Collins officials have hired an Englewood lawyer to look into a complaint that organizers of an effort to recall City Council member Lisa Poppaw violated city campaign laws.

Hiring an outside prosecutor likely will cost several thousand dollars, city officials have said.

Scotty Krob, who has worked with municipal law for a number of years, was named the special prosecutor, according to a letter from Deputy City Manager Diane Jones to Colorado Ethics Watch, a Denver watchdog group that brought the complaint.

 

After 30 failed attempts, process servers finally caught up with Douglas Bruce today.