Campaign debts dogging Lowden

A month after a process server tracked down Sue Lowden during a Las Vegas deposition, the former Republican front-runner for the 2010 U.S. Senate nomination is claiming in court documents that she can't pay her campaign debts.

She has been paying off campaign bills at a "substantially reduced amount" because she has "limited resources at this time," according to her attorney in Colorado, where she was sued by a GOP media services firm.

The legal battle began last fall when Lowden's lead polling company, Denver-based Vitale & Associates, filed a lawsuit in Denver District Court seeking almost $78,000.

Lowden's attorney, Brett Huff, sent a letter Feb. 15 to Todd Vitale's attorney saying Lowden is financially exhausted from a "very expensive" campaign.

Documents obtained by Vegas Confidential in December indicated Lowden had more than $750,000 in campaign debts at that time, including to top-level staffers.

She was served Jan. 27 when a process server learned she was being deposed by an Ohio media consultant who sued her for more than $200,000 in unpaid campaign debts.

Vitale's attorney, John Head, said in a complaint that Lowden reportedly is worth between $50 million and $200 million.

Head noted that, late in her campaign, a number of published reports had Lowden's camp vowing she would spend what it takes from her own purse to finish the race.

She ended up losing by a landslide to Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle, who had 40 percent of the vote to Lowden's 26.1 percent, a stunning slide after Lowden's 18-point lead over Angle and a 10-point Lowden lead over Democratic Sen. Harry Reid in early polls.

Head said Lowden is "probably driving around in her Bentley with a load of chickens in the back as barter to settle her campaign debts." He was referring to the mocking Lowden received for suggesting Americans should barter for health care.

Lowden, reached by telephone Thursday, said, "I'm not going to comment on an ongoing case. I would have to see the (Huff) letter before I would comment, and I'm not aware of any letter."

MAY I RECOMMEND ...

The popularity of local head-shaving benefits for the St. Baldrick's Foundation is growing faster than peach fuzz on industrial-strength Rogaine. Nine Fine Irishmen (New York- New York) and Boulder Station, have joined McMullan's Irish Pub as host clip joints Saturday . Hash House A Go Go's three locations all week will serve a pancake made of Irish oatmeal, butterscotch and almonds. A portion of the pancake proceeds will go to the St. Baldrick's fundraising efforts of Marcy Humm, who underwent a liver transplant last fall. She decided to shave her head because medications are making her hair fall out.

SIGHTINGS

NASCAR star Kyle Busch, dining Wednesday at Lavo (Palazzo) with his wife, Samantha. Detroit Lions rookie sensation Ndamukong Suh, at Dos Camino (Palazzo) on Thursday. At Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, home of the "Pawn Stars," on Wednesday: NASCAR drivers Clint Bowyer and Jeremy Clements, with rock guitar virtuoso Ronnie Montrose, who was buying his wife a ring and necklace. ... Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt, in the Human Nature (Imperial Palace) audience on Wednesday.

THE PUNCH LINE

"Moammar Gadhafi gave a rambling speech that lasted nearly three hours. So now we know where all of Charlie Sheen's cocaine went." -- Conan O'Brien

Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.