The Democratic challenger in the race to represent the heavily Republican 5th Congressional District decided this year not to throw good money at a bad race.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, an incumbent Republican with more than $250,000 on hand, is being challenged by Democrat Kevin Bradley, a bookseller who agreed not to fundraise so Democrats in the area would donate to campaigns party leaders considered “winnable.”
“It’s really hard to get a sense of the electorate if all you’re doing is chasing money,” Bradley said. “I’m not asking for money. I don’t have money. I’m interested to see what we can do with no money.”
Lamborn said he held a fundraiser in Washington, D.C., in late September and will be doing a mailer campaign after returning to Colorado this week. Federal elections reports show 59 percent of his fundraising comes from political action committees.
He listed repealing “Obamacare,” the federal health-reform bill, reining in government spending, and fending off defense cuts as some of the big issues for his campaign.
“We’re spending money instead of living within our means and that has created a poor economic environment that hurts jobs,” Lamborn said.
Lamborn, elected to the House in 2006, has signed the “Pledge to America” recently released by the GOP.
Bradley, an active Democrat who has served on the Florence City Council and been treasurer and then chairman of the Fremont County Democratic Party, was added to the ballot in May when the district was still without a Democratic challenger to Lamborn. He said he was just supposed to be a name on the ballot, catching some of the anti-incumbent sentiment in the district and doing research to help the Democratic candidate in 2012.
“The name on the ballot has meant 16-hour days seven days a week since May 21,” he said.
The 5th District has been represented by a Republican since it was created in 1972 and has twice as many active Republican voters as Democrats. Almost 84 percent of voters in the district live in El Paso County.
Jerrel Klaver, a small-business owner, former Marine and the Libertarian candidate for the district, said he thought he had a good shot at winning before Bradley entered the race.
“People are tired of wasting their vote on the Democrats and Republicans. It’s the same results every year,” he said.
