Glenn wins Colorado GOP Senate primary

Source: Politico | June 28, 2016 | Elena Schneider

El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn won Colorado’s Republican Senate primary Tuesday night and will take on Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet in the fall.

Glenn had 38 percent of the vote with 61 percent of precincts reporting when The Associated Press called the race. Businessman Jack Graham was second with 24 percent and businessman Robert Blaha was third with 16 percent.

Glenn, a fiery conservative who won the backing of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, now becomes the Republican standard-bearer in one of the GOP’s only Senate pickup opportunities this year. Bennet, who won his first full term in 2010 after being appointed to his seat the previous year, spent the past three months airing a series of positive TV ads, as Glenn and the crowded Republican field scrapped for intraparty support.

“Bennet has already outraised and outadvertised Glenn, so the key for him to be elected is that he’ll need a decent tailwind from the Republican presidential nominee and he’ll need to raise a lot of money, at least 5 to 10 million dollars, still he’ll probably need some support from outside groups,” said Eli Bremer, a GOP strategist based in Colorado Springs, Glenn’s home court. “He had a lot of outside group support in the primary, so it’ll be interesting to see how much of that translates into the general.”

Glenn shocked local Republicans by clinching his primary spot at the party’s assembly, blocking state Sen. Tim Neville, a tea party favorite. Operatives largely looked past Glenn, who had about $11,000 in cash on hand at the time, when assessing the field.

Senate Conservatives Fund and its super PAC played a major role in Glenn’s victory, providing financial cover with over $600,000 in TV ads, mailers and other efforts boosting Glenn before the primary. It was by far SCF’s biggest effort in a 2016 primary. Graham and Blaha, who both self-funded their campaigns, spent heavily on TV ads.

“It was a low turnout race with a lot of really qualified candidates, so this was an environment where someone can, without the financial resources, can thread the needle and pull out a win,” said Michael Forney, a Colorado consultant who worked on ballot access for state Rep. Jon Keyser, one of Glenn’s vanquished opponents. “In a normal race, with two or three candidates, maybe $500,000 doesn’t do it, but with this fractured field, a little bit of spending means a heck of a lot more.”

Glenn also rallied big-name endorsements to his side, including Sens. Cruz, Mike Lee of Utah and Ben Sasse of Nebraska.

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