Colorado gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo and his surrogates have run a full-court press on GOP rival Dan Maes in recent weeks, pulling supporters out from under the struggling Maes and increasing pressure for him to exit the three-way race. With Tancredo, a former Republican congressman now running on the American Constitution Party ticket, within single digits of Democrat John Hickenlooper in some public polls, some of the pressure has been overt. Tancredo campaign manager Bay Buchanan recently called a Maes supporter insisting 'the time is absolutely now' for Maes to give up. Others make poll-backed claims that Tancredo is the only electable conservative. A team of Tancredo allies at the Colorado Capitol have worked tirelessly to secure endorsements from their Republican colleagues in an attempt to signal that it's OK for Republicans to vote for a third party. Some of that pressure has also come more indirectly through Tancredo's targeted outreach to conservative grassroots groups, some of which are now publicly expressing doubts about Maes. Political analysts once bullish on Tancredo's chances in a three-way race now say a win appears a real possibility if Maes slips into the single digits. A Maes exit would set Hickenlooper, the Denver mayor who's pulling in the low- to mid-40s in public polls, back on his heels, according to Denver pollster Floyd Ciruli. 'If it's going to be 45-45-5 (percent), you have a competitive race here,' he said. 'If Maes releases his votes ... we would then have the kind of competitive, two-person race that we have in the Senate: Expensive and negative on both sides.' An Oct. 15 Rasmussen Reports poll that showed Tancredo 4 percentage points behind Hickenlooper prompted the call from Buchanan to Maes supporter Joe Harrington. The two had multiple discussions that week about a possible Maes exit, both said. Harrington proposed that Maes drop out and join a hypothetical Tancredo administration, if public opinion favored it. Buchanan said any promise of that kind would violate Colorado laws against paying political candidates to drop their election bids. Harrington posted a recording of Buchanan's message online Thursday. '(Maes has) got to find somebody that he trusts to talk to us, somebody who he trusts their word,' Buchanan said in the message. 'I'd be glad to talk to you about that. ... Give me a call if you're interested. The time is now. The time is absolutely now.' Buchanan says she was referring to planning a press conference announcing Maes' resignation, not a deal for future employment. Tancredo, meanwhile, continues to pick up high-profile Republican endorsements, most recently Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn from Colorado Springs on Thursday. State Sen. Ted Harvey, one of Tancredo's surrogates in the legislature, said he's been on the phone every day with fellow Republicans trying to secure endorsements for Tancredo. His most effective message can be boiled down to one word: Redistricting. '(Tancredo) will govern as a Republican,' said Harvey. 'Most importantly, he will sign a redistricting bill that (will) make sure we're in control in Colorado for the next decade.' State Sen. David Schultheis of Colorado Springs earlier this week became the last elected Republican supporting Maes. Since then he said he has received calls hourly from people from the Tancredo campaign asking for his support. Schultheis said he hopes it's not a 'scorched earth strategy' to leave Maes with no backers among GOP leadership. 'It's as if these individuals believe that one endorsement can make much of a difference,' said Schultheis, adding that his support for Maes 'is something I ponder every night.' Tancredo has made a concerted effort to reach out to Tea Party-type activists as well, Buchanan said. Lu Busse, who heads a coalition of 9.12 Project groups, said she's fielded calls from Tancredo supporters asking how the candidate can best appeal to the grassroots. The 2,500-plus member Western Slope Conservative Alliance issued a letter Wednesday asking Maes to leave the governor's race. 'You cannot win,' the letter states. 'We appreciate the fact that you did win the primary. ... However, this office and the state of Colorado are bigger than any one person.' 