December 04, 2023 03:16 PM UTC

Jerry Sonnenberg's CD-4 Announcement Reportedly Imminent

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• by: Colorado Pols

It’s an announcement we’ve been expecting ever since incumbent CD-4 GOP Rep. “KenSNBC” Buck said he would not seek another term in Congress, as the Fort Morgan Times’ Brian Porter reported in early November:

Jerry Sonnenberg, who served maximum terms in the Colorado House and Senate before returning home to serve as a Logan County commissioner, is “seriously considering” a bid for Congress, he said Thursday in a phone interview…

“I am considering it and have been considering it for years,” Sonnenberg said. “The decision has not been made. A first major step in the process will be to sit down with my family and come to a decision.”

Former Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg has been waiting patiently for his turn to run for Congress for many years, and was regularly mentioned as a replacement for Buck during Buck’s multiple spates of retirement rumors. After maxing out his term limits in both the Colorado House and Senate, Sonnenberg moved on to a better-paying job as a Logan County commish, but that was really just a temp job while Sonnenberg awaited his next shot at higher office. Sonnenberg has reportedly hired veteran political consultant Josh Penry to run his campaign, who is still smarting from the humiliating defeat of GOP Senate candidate Joe O’Dea in 2022 and desperately needs a win.

If Sonnenberg’s strength is his many years as an elected politician, his weaknesses include a propensity for embarrassing sexist gaffes, heartless humor playing off tragedy, loner protest votes against major legislation like the 2020 police accountability reform bill, and calling for welfare recipients to be tested for drugs after Sonnenberg collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in agricultural subsidies. Some of those traits might find a home in the back benches of the House, but we worry that Sonnenberg just isn’t MAGA enough–or for the rest of us, charismatic enough–to rise to the top of what’s expected to be a crowded CD-4 GOP primary field.

But Sonnenberg has been in line for a long time, and that counts for something. Now we’ll see whether it translates into a viable campaign.