The Colorado Republican Party on Thursday named Denver County GOP Vice-Chairman Ryan Call as the state party's new political director and in-house legal counsel, ColoradoPols is reporting.

Call, who is also the state's party current deputy legal counsel, will be responsible for supporting county parties and statewide campaigns, coordinating the party's legal strategy and Election Day poll-watching operations, and handle the day-to-day legal business of the party, the state GOP said in a release.  

Call will start work at his new positions July 15; he will take a leave of absence from the Denver law firm of Zakhem Atherton LLC.

The Fourth of July is about fireworks, barbecuing, parades and -- of course -- politicking.

After the jump, check out where Colorado candidates for U.S. Senate and Congress will be on America's birthday.

CO-6 is all the rage in a sloooow news week, producing winners and a loser; and a general mishap with his tongue pushes a General into the losers' ranks. So check in with Wally Edge for Weekly Winners & Losers. You won't want to miss the fireworks.

So much for our promise to liberate Iraq, not to occupy it, and not to cart off its riches.

Fifth Congressional District Republican candidate Bentley Rayburn’s campaign has made its first media ad buys of the election cycle, purchasing both television and radio spots over the past couple weeks.

Rayburn’s first television ad, which began airing this week on broadcast and cable stations in Colorado Springs and Canon City, is an informational spot showing the retired Air Force general with his family and is interspersed with old photos of him in the military.

U.S. Barack Obama: Getty Images PhotoSpeaking Wednesday deep in Republican territory, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama proposed substantial expansions of the U.S. military and government-run volunteer programs, the Denver Post is reporting.

In a speech before an invitation-only crowd at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, Obama said he would add 65,000 new Army soliders and 27,000 new Marines.

He also advocated tripling the size of AmeriCorps to meet "national goals" in health care and education, doubling the Peace Corps, and creating an Energy Corps to tackle renewable-energy and cleanup projects, according to the text of his address posted by the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Congressional candidate Mike CoffmanSixth Congressional District Republican Mike Coffman will report raising more than $300,000 for the second quarter of 2008, his campaign announced Tuesday.

Coffman manager Dustin Zvonek told PolitickerCO.com that the campaign is still tabulating exact numbers for 2Q fundraising.

But already the campaign has easily bested Coffman's 1Q haul of $244,239, the campaign said in a release sent out Tuesday afternoon. Zvonek added that "the vast majority" of contributions is for the CO-6 Republican primary.

Federal candidates have until July 15 to submit 2Q fundraising reports to the Federal Election Commission.

Sixth Congressional District Republican candidate Ted Harvey has picked up an endorsement from the Credit Union Association of Colorado, Harvey's campaign announced Tuesday.

“No business group in Colorado has a more impressive and well organized grassroots mobilization network than the Credit Unions," Harvey said in a release sent out Tuesday. "To have their powerful backing combined with my authentic record of conservative leadership means Republican voters will be mobilized in my favor in time for early voting in just a couple of weeks."

In an enclosed CUAC press release dated June 24, CUAC president/CEO John Dill stated that “Ted Harvey understands the important role that credit unions play in providing high-quality financial services to one out of three Coloradoans.

"We are pleased to support his candidacy to serve the people of the 6th District in Congress," Dill said in the release.