RE/MAX founder Dave Liniger will be headed to Washington, D.C., next week, and if all systems are go, he might decide to make the U.S. capital city his home. He’s seriously considering whether to run for a seat to represent his home state of Colorado in the U.S. Senate.
Liniger said he will make his decision sometime in the next two weeks after he discusses the matter with his family and business associates. The decision may come down to the choice between a life of leisurely excitement or a hard-working second career in politics.
“I have spent my entire life building RE/MAX. The company runs itself, and for the past several years I have been trying to fly balloons around the world and drive race cars and that sort of thing. The real consideration is am I willing to put in the passion, time and commitment and work 18 hours a day at a new career in Washington versus enjoying the fruits of what I’ve succeeded at up to this point,” he said.
Liniger has discussed the possibility of a senate run several times with Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and U.S. Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), among other Republican political leaders. Campbell has announced he will not seek re-election, which will leave an open seat from Colorado.
Liniger was in Texas Friday afternoon, midway through a three-week speaking tour. He said he hasn’t yet decided whether to run for Congress, but some campaign issues about which he feels quite passionate were definitely on his mind. He’s chiefly concerned about the national economy, the federal deficit, the Social Security system, homeland security, the U.S. military, affordable housing, minority home ownership and realty brokerage errors-and-omissions insurance.
“Errors and omissions insurance has skyrocketed (inc cost) over the last 10 years. I have offices that can’t buy it for $100,000 a year that haven’t had a claim. There has to be some kind of tort reform,” he said.
Liniger is a Vietnam War veteran, who describes himself as “very patriotic.”
His campaign might make the attorneys in Washington, some of whom occupy more than half the senate seats, a bit nervous.
“I don’t think you can leave government to the attorneys. There are a billion attorneys in the United States and there are a million Realtors. They have us outnumbered,” he said.
Liniger wouldn’t be the only real estate executive to serve in Congress. U.S. Rep. Johnny Isakson, serving his third term in the House from the state of Georgia, owned a real estate brokerage before he entered politics. Mel Martinez, former secretary of the U.S. Housing Department, is running for a Senate seat from the state of Florida. Isakson and Martinez are both Republicans.
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