The two Republican candidates for Colorado’s vacant U.S. Senate seat could not be more different.

One is a rich man while the other has spent most of his adult years in politics and comes from modest means. Yet both say that education will be a priority if elected to succeed retiring Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

Peter Coors, a DU alumnus, is the head of the family that owns one of the nation’s largest breweries. His opponent is Bob Shaffer, who kept his promise to honor a three-term limit in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Schaffer has long served in politics and last served as a congressman from the largely agricultural fourth congressional district in Colorado.

Coors and Schaffer will battle it out in a primary in August. The winner will face the Democratic nominee in the November election.

Between them, the two men have nearly a dozen children. Coors has six and Schaffer has five. Both say that their experience as a father will aid them in the Senate by giving them the perspective of a parent paying for the cost of college.

Schaffer said one of his objectives will be to drive down the escalating cost of college tuition, and also promises to vote accordingly.

“I’m against increasing the interest rate of student loans,” Schaffer said. He also hopes to make more student loans available to the maximum number of students and provide more school choice for parents.

While in congress, Schaffer served on the Education and the Workforce Committee and said he fought for these reforms.

Schaffer was elected to congress in 1996, but term-limited himself to three terms and stepped down in 2003. He asserts that he has made good use of his time since then to help improve education in Colorado.

He has since served as president for Parental Alliance for Choice in Education, a research and advocacy group for vouchers, home schools and charter schools with an emphasis on Colorado’s poorest children, and the Colorado Alliance for Reform in Education. Both groups are nonprofit.

Coors, likewise, asserts that his own personal experience and the experience of his family members to help him make important decisions about education.

Coors has served on Regis University’s board for 15 years, been a business corporate advisor to DU, served on the University of Northern Colorado’s board and is the chair of the Vision 2006 Campaign for Johnson and Wales University.

All six of Coors’ children graduated or are currently enrolled in a college or university. His wife, Marilyn, a DU alumna, and his daughter, Carrie, both work as educators and provide Coors food for thought. he said. His wife teaches medical ethics at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and his daughter teaches freshman English at Mullen High School.

Coors said that he is a strong believer that parents need to get involved with their children’s education and says his daughter’s experience as an educator proves that when a parent is involved, the student performs better.

He also said that there should be “more pressure on schools” to be held accountable for educating students and ensuring that they meet expectations. Coors said he believes the best way to measure what a student is learning is through testing.

“[There are some schools that are] graduating kids who don’t have the fundamentals,” Coors said.

Coors believes that many of the lessons being taught in first-year college courses should have been learned in high school, and that he wishes to change that.

He also stresses that he “thinks school issues should be a local issue” and that the federal government may not be the best place to make decisions about education.

He does believe that his experience as a businessman can help him with educational decisions.

“Schools are running a business,” Coors said. He believes that students are paying for the service of education and that business ethics and practices can be applied to education to improve it.

Coors said he uses the MBA he obtained at DU in 1970 everyday in virtually every situation.

“[Education] teaches us how to think,” he said. “The problems change in Senate but the foundation stays the same [as in business].”

Coors agreed with Schaffer that more school choice will be a priority for him if elected to the Senate.

Schaffer believes his congressional voting record gives him an edge in the race.

“I’m the only one with that kind of experience in this race,” he said.

He counts his voting record for an increase in funding to individuals with disabilities, his vote for the education act and his support for the George W. Bush tax relief law in 2001 that he said put “$50 billion of revenue in the pockets of American people.”

Coors said that he decided to run for Senate because the timing was right for him personally.

“I’ve had a terrific career, a very successful one,” he said.

He said he has complained about Washington and has supported other candidates in the past, but with his kids being “pretty independent” and his company in good hands, it was the right time.

When asked why he chose to run against Schaffer, who he has previously endorsed and donated to his campaigns, Coors said that wasn’t an issue for him.

“My running is not running against Bob Schaffer,” he said.

He believes that they have different backgrounds, himself as a business man and Schaffer as a political servant, but doesn’t think background is an issue.

Schaffer said he hadn’t given any thought to running against Coors and was just focusing on his own campaign.

Businessman or politician?

Visit www.schafferforsenate.com or petecoorsforsenate.com for more information on the candidates or to volunteer to work for their campaigns.