Former state Sen. Tom Wiens, who intended to petition his way onto the August GOP U.S. Senate primary ballot, is pulling out of the race and endorsing Tea Party front-runner Ken Buck, both campaigns said Monday.
Wiens, a real-estate developer and rancher from Douglas County, was mostly financing his own campaign.
He said earlier he was paying a Las Vegas firm to collect signatures, and it wasn’t clear Monday how close he got to collecting the required 1,500 names from registered Republicans in each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts.
When asked whether Wiens pulled out because he couldn’t get enough signatures, a spokesman said on Monday that he didn’t speak for Wiens anymore.
Signatures to make the August primary ballot are due Thursday to the Colorado secretary of state.
“I’ve campaigned with all the candidates over the last many months, and it’s clear that Ken Buck is prepared to do a great job as U.S. senator,” Wiens said in a statement.
“I’m honored to get Tom’s endorsement,” Buck said. “He was a great candidate, and it’s a relief that he’s supporting me. He’s got great strength in the grassroots, and that’s an important group for us.”
