McInnis had been mentioned as a possible candidate for either the United States Senate or the Colorado governorship in 2010. Although he stated that he was not planning to seek the Senate seat, he did indicate some interest in challenging incumbent Bill Ritter for Colorado's top executive office. Though he did not gain the nomination at the party convention, he was widely considered the front runner for the Republican nomination until accusations of plagiarism gained attention. In the August 10 primary he lost the nomination by slightly more than 1 percent of the ballots cast to entrepreneur Dan Maes.