The Denver Post’s John Frank announces the formal entry of state Sen. Tim Neville into the 2016 U.S. Senate race, news we originally broke at the beginning of September:
State Sen. Tim Neville, one of the legislature’s most conservative Republicans, will announce his campaign Thursday and join what may become a crowded primary field.
In an interview Monday, Neville said his political record in the General Assembly, where he opposed gun regulations, sought tougher abortion restrictions and pushed for a limited government, sets him apart.
“I don’t just talk the talk, I walk the walk,” he said. “It’s very easy for me to show the voting public where I stand and how I stand.”
Neville’s entry into this race sets up a major conflict within the Colorado Republican Party between party activists tired of equivocal “RINO” candidates and GOP elites who have been disdainful in recent years of the “Tea Party” grassroots they helped manufacture. Make no mistake: given the fractious nature of the GOP base in Colorado today, Neville is in a very strong position to own the rank-and-file that decides Republican primaries in our state. Neville’s unswayable base of support at the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners wields the bulk of its power in Republican primaries.
With Neville officially in, any other potential candidates still on the sidelines are now on notice. Not only do they need to decide what they’re doing and soon, they must now come up with a plan for winning over a GOP base naturally aligned with Tim Neville. However hard-charging Neville’s conservative politics may be, even his staunchest foes can’t deny that he works hard on the campaign trail, and knows retail politics very well. Nobody else gets a cake walk to this nomination with Neville in the race. No amount of National Republican Senatorial Committee pressure can dissuade Neville, indeed any such pressure might well have already backfired.
As of now, a war is on for the Colorado GOP’s heart and soul. And Tim Neville is in a strong position to win it.
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How exciting!
May the best man win. I'll support whoever wins the nomination against Michael Bennet.
You don't say!
Or as Neville might say "OK all you lemmings, follow me!"
Michael Bennet is Mark Udall with even less charisma. I'm very excited about 2016.
Gessler 2016! If not now, then when?
When hell freezes over?
One can only hope that he resigns his state government employee position so he that can attempt to be hired for a federal government position.
I wouldn't count on that. The Nevilles may be crazy but they are crazy like foxes. They know that their particular ideological brand is popular but only in certain enclaves in Colorado. What they're offering doesn't go over well in most of the state. He's not going to give up what he now has which is one of those enclaves. He's running a campaign like Rand Paul….to provide a platform for some of the crap they're pushing.
+10 Frank. I agree that's Neville's plan – to keep the "guns for everyone!" issues alive, and RMGO relevant when the state party would rather pass them by.
God forbid that this government hating government employee would want to do anything to improve government. What a flaming jerk off. Bennet better do something more than anti-abortion commercials to this fucker.
Bennett's response only matters if Neville wins the primary. If I were Bennet I'd be buying Neville ads.
Bullseye – Neville knows where his bread is buttered, from the fat of "machine gun bacon".
He's got to keep these guys buying guns and bullets and paying to use the range (as does Dudley & Co.), in order to keep the racket going:
Looks yummy! 🙂
Wrong orifice.
Yep, Mod – that's the point … get the lemmings salivating.
I really, really hope Tim Neville wins the battle for the Colorado GOP's heart and soul. That would hasten their devolution into a permanent minority party in Colorado. Go, Timmeh, go!
So, for you, the fact that Republicans won a Senate seat; took back the State Senate; and won most of the elected at-large positions in state government in the 2014 election; indicates the devolution of Republicans into permanent minority status? You really must live in a fantasy world.
I would be surprised if Neville comes out of the primary as the winner. Note his crowing over how he fought for tougher abortion restrictions; and doing that in the state that I believe was the first to legalize abortion. His anti-abortion stance plays to just a small part of registered Republicans; it certainly doesn't play to me.
The most important part of this thread is brought up by Gilpin Guy. Udall lost because he listened too much to the inside-the-Beltway whiz kids who were here to advise him on how to get re-elected. Gilpin Guy; as well as many other posters here on other threads; notes how well that worked. Udall would still be in the Senate today if he had just done more to emphasize his environmental record, which is an issue that flies high in this state. C.H.B.
Demographics are inevitable. I wouldn't be looking too far into the future if you want to keep that sense of supereriority intact.
See below re: demographics.
We do agree on Udall paying too much attention to the Beltway advisor gang.
Or rather, see BlueCat above re: demographics.
The Udall campaign lost that election with no help to speak of needed from Team Gardner as I've said so many times in so many posts, I'm sure everybody just wants me to shut up about it.