AURORA, Colo.—Republican Ryan Frazier halted his U.S. Senate bid Thursday, saying he would instead set his sights on defeating Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter for his 7th Congressional District seat.
The twice-elected Aurora City Council member made the announcement at a news conference Thursday in Adams County.
Frazier said he wants a government that is limited and fiscally responsible.
“The dangerous course that the Democrat-controlled Congress has forced us to tread, greatly concerns me,” Frazier said in a written statement issued by his office.
Frazier was one of at least six Republicans looking to challenge Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet next year but he trailed in fundraising.
Perlmutter is serving his second term after being elected in 2006 to represent the 7th District in Denver’s western suburbs. Republican Bob Beauprez won the seat by just 121 votes after it was created in 2002, but vacated it to run for governor, a race he lost.
Perlmutter spokeswoman Julie DeWoody said the congressman knows he’s in a competitive district, and that he’s waiting to see what happens in the Republican primary while he works for his constituents.
Colorado Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak, meanwhile, accused Frazier of political opportunism for dropping out of one race to run in another.
“Coloradans are sick and tired of that brand of politics and they deserve better,” she said.
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