Dan Maes

Daniel B. Maes (born January 12, 1961), is an American businessman and politician of Dutch descent. He was the Republican candidate in the 2010 Colorado gubernatorial election. Maes lives in Evergreen.

Early life, education and career

Born in the Chicago area, Maes and his five brothers were reared in rural Rib Lake, Wisconsin, where his father, Earl Benjamin Maes had roots. His father died in 1972. Maes' became a leader in his Boy Scout Troop, Student Council member and president, and Senior Class President. He was also captain of his football team and Most Valuable Player Offense as a Senior in 1979. He was very ACTIVE in his hometown church. Maes continued his football career in college as a walk on fullback but his days in football became numbered after a leg injury that first season. In 1983 Maes earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

From 1983 to 1985 he was a police officer in Liberal, Kansas, but was dismissed after being accused of disclosing to his fiancé that there was an investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation of her family. In his appeal of the dismissal to Liberal's city manager, he claimed the KBI offered the option of disclosure during the investigation given the delicate position he was in. The city manager, Alan Morris, denied the appeal because Maes stated in the letter he had disclosed the existence of an investigation to his fiancée.

Maes moved to Colorado in 1985 and started work in sales and sales management, and then joined Voice-Tel of Colorado. He negotiated a managing partner role through sweat equity at the Western New York offices in 1995. The company sold out to a publicly-traded company in 1997, and Maes finished his career with the company in Oakbrook, IL through 2000.

He then returned to Colorado where he entered the credit reporting industry in 2003, owning his own credit reporting agency Amaesing Credit solutions by 2005. He sold this company in 2009 and turned his attention to the Colorado governor's race.

2010 Colorado gubernatorial campaign

Maes entered the 2010 governor's race as a political newcomer in March 2009, working with the Republicans and newly rising Tea Party. He received the most votes at the Republican party assembly on May 20, 2010, and was listed first on the primary ballot for Governor of Colorado against Scott McInnis. Maes campaigned across Colorado until the primary, on August 10, and Maes won with 50.6% to 49.3%.

In July Maes agreed to pay a $17,500 fine for campaign finance violations, for improperly classifying the occupation of several contributors and for "untimely reimbursements of expenses over 20.00." Maes insisted this was a politically-motivated legal action timed just one week before the launch of mail in ballots for the primary." According to The Denver Post, Maes paid himself $42,000 in mileage reimbursements.

On July 28, 2010, some Maes supporters claimed robocalls from the McInnis campaign were received, stating that Maes had exited the gubernatorial campaign in order to support McInnis. The McInnis campaign denied these claims, stating that robocalls were made by the El Paso District Attorney, Dan May, saying he supported Scott McInnis.

In early September Maes was embroiled in controversy after the Denver Post questioned his claims of working undercover with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. The Post investigation found that officials in Kansas either had no recollection of them or could not confirm them. Maes maintained the accuracy of his account, which was confirmed by a more thorough investigative report by Steve Paulson of the Associated Press, who travelled to Liberal himself and after he released his personnel file.

Questions about Maes' background led some supporters to withdraw their endorsements. The Denver Post called on Maes to leave the race.

In the November 2010 general election, Maes won 11.2% of the vote, finishing behind both Democratic Denver mayor John Hickenlooper and late entry Constitution Party candidate Tom Tancredo, a well-known and outspoken ex-Republican congressman. Tancredo had threatened to enter the race if McInnis and Maes didn't pull out, and made it clear that he was not going to allow either Republican to win. As the campaign wore on, the question was not whether Hickenlooper would win, but whether Maes would get at least 10% of the vote. Had he dropped below 10%, the Republican Party would have been legally defined as a minor party under Colorado law. Maes continued to campaign with no financial support from the Colorado GOP, RNC, nor the Republican Governor's Association. Ultimately, he finished just 20,000 votes over the threshold.

Political positions

Maes supports e-verification systems to stop illegal immigration. He was the only candidate to discuss head-count reductions in the state government in order to balance the state budget. He claimed that the traditional energy sector of oil and gas was the economic path to recovery for Colorado, and also supported clean coal technology to protect quality rural jobs in Colorado. He saw over-taxation and regulation of business as impediments to job growth, and promised to reduce both.

Although he never claimed the title of Tea Party candidate, he met with all grass-roots organizations and earned the support of most Tea Party Patriot groups via his aggressive campaign travels.

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