Dan Maes

Early life, education and career

Born in the Chicago area, Maes is of Dutch descent. Maes and his five brothers were reared in rural Rib Lake, Wisconsin, where his father, Earl Maes, had roots. His father died in 1971. As a boy, Maes was active in church, the Boy Scouts, student government, and high school football. Maes continued football in college as a walk-on fullback until a leg injury in his 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 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 remained working in the telecommunications until 2002. After the technology industry bust 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.

Questions about Maes' background led some supporters, including former Republican U.S. Senator Hank Brown, 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. 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.

After the election Maes shared his campaign experience in his self-published book, Running Without Cowboy Boots, which is a memoir of his childhood and a detailed history of his rise and downfall through the 2009-10 campaign season.

Political positions

Maes supports e-verification systems to stop illegal immigration. In 2009, he told The Denver Post, "My original opinion was that we should provide some path to citizenship to bring people out of that underworld." Maes later clarified his position, saying he never supported amnesty for illegal immigrants and did not intend the phrase "path to citizenship" to imply amnesty. He also supports reducing the size of non-essential governmental entities, lowering taxes, opposition to legalization of drugs, and protecting the 2nd amendment.

In August 2010, the Denver Post reported that Maes had criticized the City of Denver's membership in the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). Maes explained his belief that the "ICLEI is part of a greater strategy to rein in American cities under a United Nations treaty" and that local support for ICLEI is "converting Denver into a United Nations community." A spokesman for Maes' campaign said that Maes was trying to draw attention to ICLEI's "extreme" views on global warming, and according to the Associated Press "told The Associated Press that Maes was trying to say that the biking initiative is a “gateway program” being pushed by ECLEI on cities that eventually lead to extreme measures, such as the promotion of abortions and population control."

Personal life

Maes' first marriage, by which he has one daughter, Jordan, ended in divorce in 1988. Maes and his wife, Karen, have two children of their own.

Karen served her husband's 2010 campaign as treasurer and Jordan, then a recent UNC graduate, served as her father's executive aide/scheduler.

Maes returned to the telecommunications industry in 2011.