The White House on Thursday confirmed it tried to coax a second candidate out of a Democratic Senate primary race, this time saying it discussed the possibility of three USAID jobs with Andrew Romanoff, who is running against an administration-favored incumbent in Colorado.
Mr. Romanoff on Wednesday night made public an e-mail from a White House aide that outlined several positions that would be available to him if he dropped his challenge to freshman Sen. Michael Bennet, who has the support of President Obama. The former Colorado House speaker said he was not promised a job by the White House and made it clear he intended to stay in the race.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said deputy chief of staff Jim Messina “wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle between two supporters.”
The White House Thursday morning offered a different spin on the events relating to Mr. Romanoff’s possible job offer.
Mr. Gibbs said it was Mr. Romanoff who originally expressed interest in a position at USAID during the transition and followed up after Mr. Obama took office. Mr. Messina contacted Mr. Romanoff in September 2009, according to the e-mail released by the campaign.
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