October 30, 2015 01:55 PM UTC

Wait, What? Ryan Frazier is STILL Looking at U.S. Senate?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Colorado Pols first reported in August that former Aurora city council member Ryan Frazier was trying to generate support in Washington D.C. for a potential 2016 U.S. Senate campaign. We reported the Frazier rumor with tongue firmly planted in cheek, because Frazier has actually proven that he cannot run a competitive race for…well, anything. As we wrote in August:

If you think that Frazier couldn’t possibly be any worse than he was in 2010-11, you’d probably be correct. And that, of course, is exactly the problem.

Well, apparently Frazier is still serious about entering the Republican field for U.S. Senate in a bid to challenge incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. As Brandon Rittiman reports for 9News:

Former Aurora city council member Ryan Frazier may be the next to enter the Republican primary race for US Senate.

Frazier appeared as a paid political expert on 9NEWS since the 2012 campaign cycle. Frazier and 9NEWS ended that arrangement on Friday as he considers a run.

“I’m motivated to serve,” said Frazier. “I have a passion for this.”

Republicans have been scrambling to find a candidate they feel confident enough to run against incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet. [Pols emphasis]

While that last line is certainly true — Republicans have been trying for months to find a top-tier candidate for Senate — the implication that Frazier could be recruited to run is pretty silly. Ryan Frazier has a proven track record as a politician, but not in a good way; Frazier has literally demonstrated, unequivocally, that he can’t even run a competitive plausible campaign for higher office.

Frazier emerged on the statewide political scene in 2009 in a big way — announcing plans to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate and make the unlikely jump from Aurora City Council to one of the top elected positions in the country. Frazier was eventually convinced to drop out of the Senate race in order to challenge incumbent Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Jefferson County). In the Republican Wave year of 2010 — the year that gave rise to the Tea Party — Perlmutter defeated Frazier by 11 points in a congressional district with fairly even voter registration numbers.

Undeterred, Frazier immediately began running for an open seat as Aurora Mayor. With a background on the Aurora City Council and with the (theoretical) benefit of millions of dollars of television ads from his CD-7 campaign, this may have seemed like a natural next move for Frazier. In the “nonpartisan” race for Aurora Mayor in 2011, Frazier was again soundly defeated — losing by 10 points to Steve Hogan.

After back-to-back double-digit losses, we figured that we’d seen the last of Ryan Frazier as a candidate for higher political office. But if ever there was a time for Frazier to attempt a political comeback, it might make sense in a year in which Republicans haven’t had any luck finding a decent candidate other than State Sen. Tim Neville.

Attempting to run for U.S. Senate in 2016 might seem reasonable for Frazier personally, but what could he possibly say that might convince Colorado Republicans that he is not a walking campaign crater? Nobody with a lick of political sense is going to support a Frazier for Senate campaign, but we admit to being oddly fascinated by the idea of listening in as Frazier makes his pitch.