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September 22, 2015 10:53 AM UTC

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

  • 21 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

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

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

—–

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

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.

—–

George Brauchler, ready to Tweet
George Brauchler, ready to Tweet

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.

State Sen. Tim Neville
State Sen. Tim Neville

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).

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21 thoughts on “BREAKING: George Brauchler Will Run for U.S. Senate”

  2. Interesting to me is that you seem to indicate that Bennet's chances of being reelected are somehow improved by Udall's loss?   That's a bit of tortured logic, no?

    I'd have more faith in an I Ching casting, but I guess we're all entitled to our own make-believes …

  9. With October barely a week away, and with it the start of the campaign reporting period, it seems Brauchler is faced with the report of an inconvenient truth, and Penry's the one that dropped a load in his pants over this leak.

    Could it cost Penry his promised job as campaign manager?  The only thing that could make this better is if Cynthia Coffman and Steve House are involved devil

  12. A couple of observations. First Mr. Brauchler is either going to announce for reelection as district attorney or for the U.S. Senate. With the governors race during the 2018 election cycle, he certainly won't be announcing for that.

    Second, my impression of Mr. Brauchler is he is an executive type and he may not enjoy the give and take that is required in a legislative body. As DA, he can give an order and his deputies will obey it; but in the legislative arena, especially in Washington, the extremely slow pace and excruciating efforts it takes to move any piece of legislation, even before the past six years, can be very frustrating. If I had his ear, I would ask him to ponder that plus, if he is smart, he'll realize he doesn't know much about the national issues and that can be a trap for an inexperienced candidate. Such a candidate can say something he/she thinks is perfectly fine but the public looks at in a whole different way.  

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