September 22, 2015 10:53 AM UTC

BREAKING: George Brauchler Will Run for U.S. Senate

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #2: Again, from Kristen Wyatt of the AP:

Brauchler’s flak: “Any announcement that he makes with regards to his next steps will be made in October”

— Kristen Wyatt (@APkristenwyatt) September 22, 2015

What would you call this? A non-denial denial?

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UPDATE: AP’s Kristen Wyatt quotes prospective Brauchler campaign manager Josh Penry denying the story:

Penry insists the Pols report that Brauchler’s in the Senate race not true. Adds, “sure is fun watching the left wet themselves over George” — Kristen Wyatt (@APkristenwyatt) September 22, 2015

Penry’s bravado notwithstanding, our sources are standing by the story–and suggest other motives for Brauchler keeping his imminent run under wraps a short while longer. We’ll update with developments soon.

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Colorado Pols has learned that Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler will indeed run for U.S. Senate. Brauchler has tapped former state senator Josh Penry as his campaign manager, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is actively pushing Brauchler as “their guy,” which may not sit well with Colorado Republican activists.

Brauchler has been considering a Senate bid for months, weighing the decision even as the Aurora Theater Shooting trial was ongoing, and will likely make the announcement official in early October.

Last week, Colorado Pols reported that a group of high-profile donors, representing Republican business interests, were trying to recruit state Sen. Mark Scheffel to run for Senate because of concerns that Brauchler is not ready for such a high-profile race — and because they don’t want to feel forced to commit to the NRSC’s “D.C.” candidate. It is unclear if Scheffel is still considering making a Senate bid, but at least one other Republican candidate is likely to compete for the GOP nomination. State Sen. Tim Neville has been doing a statewide “listening tour” and had recently been telling top donors that he was committed to running for the U.S. Senate in 2016.

Colorado Springs businessman Robert Blaha has also said he will run for Senate in 2016 and indicated a willingness to self-fund much of his campaign.

Brauchler has been in the news quite a bit this year due to the Aurora Theater Shooting Trial, in which he was unable to convince a jury to rule in favor of the death penalty for James Holmes. Since the end of the trial, Brauchler has repeatedly invoked his family as his primary concern in weighing a Senate bid, admitting that they had spent little time together over the past two years because of the demands of the trial. Apparently, family concerns were not all that relevant after all; Brauchler will have to campaign full-time while also (theoretically) continuing his job as Arapahoe County District Attorney.

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Denver) is one of the Republican Party’s top targets in 2016, but the odds are not in favor of Republicans taking the seat; only once in the last 40 years have incumbent Senators from the same Party lost re-election in consecutive cycles — nationwide. (Democratic Sen. Mark Udall lost his re-election campaign in 2014).