Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck today announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat now held by freshman Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet.
Buck’s office has played high profile roles in both the conviction of transgendered woman Angie Zapata’s killer and a controversial scheme to snag illegal immigrants with false identification.
In his announcement today, Buck cast himself as a pro-market, small government advocate.
“Big government policies have chilled the vitality of our work force and denied fundamental rights to Americans,” said Buck, a Republican. “During times of financial hardship, we need to rely more on the marketplace and less on big government, not the other way around.”
Buck has traveled to all 64 Colorado counties building a network of activists in the last few months, his campaign said.
He joins fellow Republican and Aurora city councilman Ryan Frazier, who announced earlier this month that he’s raising money for a U.S. Senate bid, though he hasn’t yet officially announced his candidacy.
Bennet, formerly superintendent of the Denver Public School system, was appointed in early January to take the seat of former Sen. Ken Salazar.
He’s considered a prime target by Republicans because of his short tenure and because he’s never before run for political office.
