Republican Cory Gardner of Colorado ran the best Senate campaign in the country last year. .
The congressman seemed to get one break after another — an unusually flattering and a report that claimed he didn’t play high school football when he generating another round of favorable headlines.
Columnist George Will even called “a human sunbeam.”
And it all played out in 2014, for Republicans nationwide.
Despite all that, Gardner won by only 1.9 percentage points, a margin of victory that frightens some Republicans when they look at 2016. If the best candidate running in the best climate can only squeak by Democrat Mark Udall — — what is going to happen in a presidential year against Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet?
“Why do you think there aren’t a lot of people lined up to take Bennet on?” said former House Majority Leader Amy Stephens, who dropped out of the GOP Senate primary in 2014 to make room for Gardner.
The chatter about challenging Bennet has exploded since U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, last week , saying he wanted to stay in his seat where he has emerged as a national leader on veterans’ issues.
But Amy Runyon-Harms, director of the liberal group Progress Now Colorado, wonders whether Coffman will change his mind. She pointed to in 2013 that he wouldn’t run for the Senate, and his decision early the next year to get into the race.
For now, Coffman is out of the scene, and various names are being floated as possible contenders to take on Bennet.
“A lively, robust Republican primary with candidates who represent the future of our party could produce someone even more dangerous to Bennet than Coffman,” said former state GOP chairman Dick Wadhams. “Be careful what you wish for, Democrats.”
Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor with The Cook Political Report, believes Coffman would have been a “really good candidate, a strong candidate.”
“But he wasn’t Cory Gardner, either,” she said. “I think a lot of Republicans would like to find a clone of Cory Gardner, but one of those doesn’t exist.”
Republicans don’t need a Gardner clone, said political strategist Josh Penry of EIS Solutions.
“The emerging conventional wisdom on Michael Bennet — that beating him is this impossibly steep climb, and that there’s not a Republican left who can do it — is 100 percent nonsense,” Penry said. “We don’t need to nominate Cicero. This is not a longshot or a Hail Mary. “
He said no matter the GOP nominee, Republicans will point out Bennet’s wealth and how he has been a “rubber stamp for all of the lousy policies of President Obama.”
When Coffman bowed out, Andrew Zucker, the spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party, said Republicans in Washington were “in a full-blown panic” trying to find someone to take on Bennet.
Bennet raised of this year.
His staff is considered top-notch. At a luncheon in Republican-friendly Grand Junction, several who asked Bennet a question started out by thanking his office for fixing one problem or another.
Bennet was part of the which led the Senate to pass a seminal immigration measure, and he sponsored the bill that added protections for more than in southwest Colorado near Durango.
Democrats love to point to Wadhams’ comments in 2014, when he admitted he had been , believing Udall would be an easier target than Bennet.
“Sen. Bennet has plunged himself into the major issues being debated in the Senate,” Wadhams said at the time. “Bennet seems energized, he seems involved. I don’t agree with practically anything he says, but he is not sitting on the sidelines.”
But Matt Connelly, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which regularly sends out attacks on Bennet’s record, believes the Democrat is “extremely vulnerable.” Connelly pointed to a profile in in May, in which Bennet was virtually unrecognized as he traveled the state.
“I think Colorado is a pickup opportunity for Republicans — again,” Connelly said.
Duffy believes one of the lessons the GOP learned last year is it’s worth it to wait for the right candidate.
But several Colorado Republicans privately believe that Gardner’s late start is one reason the race was so close, and there’s more urgency this time because next year is a presidential election.
More Colorado Democrats tend to vote in presidential years than in mid-term elections. Colorado went for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 — the first time in 76 years the state backed a Democratic presidential candidate for a second term.
“The top of the ticket will be a huge influence” on the Senate race, Wadhams said, adding that “Hillary Clinton is no Obama.”
“I think the 2016 Senate race,” Wadhams said, “has the potential to be the most unpredictable and surprising election we’ve seen in a long time.”
Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels
Colorado’s 2016 Senate race
Several Republicans have been mentioned as contenders to take on Democrat Michael Bennet:
Businessman Robert Blaha: in the Colorado Springs-based 5th District primary in 2012. He said he’s gotten calls asking him to run. “I’m not actually pursuing it, but I am listening.”
Senate President Bill Cadman of Colorado Springs: His sense of humor and street smarts have enabled him to get along with a number of Democrats. But his own admission and his votes during his lengthy legislative career would provide fodder for Democrats.
Former Solicitor General Dan Domenico: He previously served under Attorney General John Suthers, handling appellate and constitutional issues. His wife, Janelle, is a well-known GOP fundraiser. Domenico said enough people have mentioned a Senate run to him, but began his statement by saying, “I have no burning desire to run for office, and have a law practice and a family with young kids that I enjoy spending time with.”
District Attorney George Brauchler: He grabbed the limelight in 2013 when for his decision not to proceed with executing death row inmate Nathan Dunlap, and he’s getting plenty of publicity prosecuting . Many believe he’s more interested in the open governor’s race in 2018 than a Senate run.
Attorney General Cynthia Coffman:As the top Republican vote-getter in 2014, she has statewide appeal, . Coffman, who is married to U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, also is mentioned as a 2018 gubernatorial candidate.
State Sen. Owen Hill of Colorado Springs: On paper, he appears to be the perfect candidate: He’s a graduate of the Air Force Academy, and photographs with his young family resemble a J.Crew ad. He’s viewed as — he also dropped out of the Senate race in 2014 to make room for Gardner — but insiders say he’s more interested in the state treasurer’s job in 2018.
Former state Senate Majority Leader Mike Kopp: He was an Army Ranger whose wife died of cancer, leaving him with four kids to raise, so he resigned his Senate seat and then found true love again. to a first-place finish at the 2014 assembly in the governor’s race, but he couldn’t raise money or win the primary.
State Sen. Ellen Roberts of Durango: In recent interviews, she has including ones about her pro-choice stance, making her appear unprepared for prime time. But the state has never had a female senator, and if she survives a GOP primary, voters may decide it’s time.
State Treasurer Walker Stapleton: With his connections to the Bush family — he’s a second cousin to former President George W. Bush — he can easily raise money. The last name also helps: His great grandfather was a Denver mayor who had an airport name after him. But Stapleton , and also is said to be more interested in the open governor’s race.
U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez: He lost to Democrat John Salazar in 2006 in the 3rd Congressional District but beat him in a GOP . Tipton’s reputation as an effective campaigner overshadows his reputation as an effective congressman.
