Congressman Cory Gardner looked at his buzzing phone, saw it was some number in Texas he didn’t recognize and continued having lunch with his wife, Jaime.
Then her phone rang. It was Gardner’s Senate campaign spokesman, Alex Siciliano. Former President George W. Bush was trying to reach Gardner. Could he answer the phone when it rang again?
That was lunchtime on Election Day, and since then Gardner’s phone hasn’t stopped ringing. On Wednesday he kept it close, as he had been told to expect a call from President Barack Obama. Such is the life of a senator-elect.
Gardner, a Republican congressman from the small Eastern Plains town of Yuma, , a victory that helped the GOP take control of the U.S. Senate.
With only a couple of hours of sleep, Gardner was up early Wednesday for a round of TV and radio interviews locally and nationally.
Katie Behnke, Gardner’s finance director and deputy campaign manager, told him the campaign had declined an invitation for a Wednesday night event. “I know you’ve been up since 5:30,” she said.
Gardner and Udall will return to Congress this week for the lame-duck session, where the agenda includes government spending and expired tax breaks.
Gardner will be sworn in as a senator in January, while Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck will take over the congressional seat Gardner now holds.
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
