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Immigration issue spurs man to take on Tancredo
Jeffco resident will face congressman in Aug. 8 GOP primary

By Stuart Steers, Rocky Mountain News
February 24, 2006

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo will face a challenge in the Republican primary from a local Hispanic man angered by Tancredo's high-profile campaign against illegal immigrants.

Juan Botero, a Jefferson County resident who has worked as a communications consultant to U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, is expected to announce his candidacy today at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden.

Botero confirmed Thursday he will be a candidate and said he disagrees with Tancredo's approach to immigration.

He said he did not want to comment further before his news conference today.

Tancredo has earned a national reputation for his crusade against illegal immigration, which he says is ruining the country.

He has called for the construction of a wall along the Mexican border and harsher penalties for illegal aliens and the employers who give them jobs.

Tancredo has been mulling a race for president in 2008 on a platform based largely on the immigration issue.

Tancredo issued a brief statement Thursday in response to the news that he might have a Republican primary challenge:

"That's the great thing about America, anybody can run," he said. "The more the merrier."

Working as a consultant, Botero has helped several Republican candidates prepare Spanish-language campaign material.

He worked on Allard's re-election campaign, creating radio ads that ran on Spanish stations.

Botero also has helped prepare Spanish materials for the Colorado secretary of state's Web site.

Tancredo's 6th Congressional District spans the southern metro suburbs from Centennial west into Jefferson County.

The primary election is Aug. 8.