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July 08, 2013 11:00 AM UTC

At Long Last, Mark Udall Has a GOP Challenger...Sort Of

  • 32 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

baumgardner
State Sen. Randy Baumgardner.

FOX 31's Eli Stokols:

State Sen. Randy Baumgardner, a rancher from Hot Sulphur Springs, will officially launch his campaign for Udall’s seat this Friday in Grand County, the Denver Post’s Lynn Bartels reported Sunday.

Baumgardner, known as the “Capitol Cowboy” at the Capitol, has been hinting that he planned to enter the race.

FOX31 Denver has had Baumgardner on its list of likely GOP Senate candidates for months; others considering a run, including state Rep. Amy Stephens of Monument and Sen. Owen Hill of Colorado Springs, are likely to announce their intentions in the coming weeks.

State Sen. Randy Baumgardner of Hot Sulphur Springs is perhaps most famous, excepting the powerful facial hair for which he is most famous, for his defeat of Sen. Jean White in the 2012 GOP primary for Senate District 8. White, a moderate Republican woman who had voted in favor of civil union legislation, was defeated in a bitter primary that saw much attention focused on morality issues–even after it was disclosed that Baumgardner was harboring a sex offender in his own home. More recently, Baumgardner claimed that "hammers kill more people than guns"–in fact, guns kill about 17 times the number of people that hammers do.

Bottom line: we can't even list all the reasons we seriously doubt that Baumgardner will be the GOP's U.S. Senate nominee. If by some chance he does win the nomination, that will be the clearest indication possible that Republicans have forfeited the race to incumbent Sen. Mark Udall–even to the abandonment of the name ID-building opportunity the race could represent for a young candidate like Owen Hill., or an upwardly mobile state legislative veteran like Amy Stephens. As great as it would be for Democrats, we have to believe Baumgardner's campaign won't last beyond the entry of someone–anyone–more credible.

In the meantime, he should make for a few entertaining news cycles.

Comments

32 thoughts on “At Long Last, Mark Udall Has a GOP Challenger…Sort Of

    1. And the wear-your-gun-on-your-belt-in-a-friendly-setting demographic.  Randy will not drop out of this race easily.  He's been telling people around the state for more than 2 years that he was going to run for the U.S. Senate.  There's so much in his history that is not well known – will be interesting to watch this evolve.  One example: He tried to remain a CDOT employee when he was elected to the State House.  Maybe he thinks he'll be able to serve as both a State Senator and U.S. Senator at the same time . . .

       

       

      1. Well- if all elected officials kept their current gig when they go t th enext one, it would make gov't smaller.

         

        As for the mustache- I've seen this before. He'll lose a bet any minute now and that will be that.

         

  1. Ole randy's EXACTLY the right guy at the right place at the right time………if you're the sitting US Senator up in '14.

    Baumgardner's precisely the extreme complement to 1Y tommy t's GOOBERnatorial characture the Dem's need opposite us this next election.

    We've had our share of extreme right wing  cornserative christ-ee whackadoodles posting here for a while, and frierson's "pal" randy and the ever insane 1Y tommy t personifies that mindset.

    Realist and Curmudgeon referenced porn 'stache randy's proclivity for the "exotic", as well as his penchant for double dipping. Both traits red blooded repugnantcons either overlook or condone…….as long as the perp's a fellow repugnantcan. They'll both win any primary. They ARE the red base.

    But……….Colorado's demographics just don't support the same idiocy as a pure red state….Alabama, Tex-ASS, etc. Extremism can't win here any more.

    It's almost too much and too good to be true.

    The even better news………..the red base thinks that's a winning ticket.

  2. Well, if you don't have any credible candidates, that calls for having INCREDIBLE candidates.

    POLs is probably right that he won't last long, but it would be funny to have Baumgardner sweep the GOP primary clean 😉

  3. Sen. Owen Hill is in too now.  May Amy Stephens is the moderate… relative to these clowns.  Such fun, the Sleeping Majority and the Silent Giant approve! 

     

      1. Well, they definitely have the mustache afficionado / sex offender /wear-your-gun-on-your-belt-in-a-friendly-setting voting block sewn up.

        How many is that, Guppy? 

        1. That's a good shot.  I have never seen a picture of the man smiling.  I'm sure they exist, they are not what he uses in his own materials. 

            1. It certainly looks posed so I assume this is how he likes to present himself. He probably thinks he looks terrific, just like a tough guy from a John Wayne western. Pretty sure that's what he's going for.

        2. He does not smile – I'm guessing he thinks this kind of look projects the strong, silent cowboy type – maybe he thinks of himself as a John Wayne movie star kinda guy.  I may have said this before but he is the best example the saying "he's a legend in his own mind" I've ever encountered.

          1. Maybe he looks so mad because after decades of trying, he's never managed to get the best of that long-eared, flat-footed, carrot-munchin', fur-bearin' varmint…. Consarn it!

          2.  maybe he thinks of himself as a John Wayne movie star kinda guy.

            Could be…Garfield County Commissioner and rising O&G media star, John Martin, thinks he is Wyatt Earp.

  4. Randy, on Randy (paraphrased): "I'm not smart enough not to run."

    “It’s a wide-open field, but I was just hoping we wouldn’t get this 14 different people running in a primary to tear us all apart so we give (Democrats) the ammunition to win,” Baumgardner said of Hill’s announcement. “But it doesn’t look like we’re smart enough to figure that out yet.”

    And here is the message from @CapitalCowboy (sic) also paraphrsed: :"Garble Gooblydegook run on and on and on and say nothing."

    “We need someone that is connected to the land and connected to the people of the state of Colorado that would be able to represent them better than someone that’s worth lots of money,” Baumgardner said.

    From Mr. Ashby at the GJ Daily Sentinel

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