Darryl Glenn is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Colorado. He is challenging Democratic incumbent Michael Bennet in the 2016 election and campaigning as the “underdog.” (.)
Here are five things to know about Glenn:
Darryl Glenn starts his speeches with a “battle cry.”
Glenn wowed Republican activists at with a speech that helped him secure a slot on the primary ballot.
His big line: “I am an unapologetic Christian, constitutional conservative, pro-life, Second Amendment-loving American who will beat Michael Bennet.”
Glenn calls it his “battle cry” and repeats a version of it just about everywhere he goes. It speaks to how he is courting conservatives and draws the ire of Democrats who he “evil.” The emphasis underscores his limited appeal outside the party, as with double-digit deficits.
He’s a champion powerlifter.
Glenn at the Air Force Academy but he injured his ankle his senior season in high school. So he turned to weightlifting. At the Academy, he won three national collegiate powerlifting titles and competed in the 132-pound class. A 1986 edition of featured a picture of Glenn with the headline “Who Is The World’s Greatest Squatter.” His features him lifting weights and running up a hillside.
His hardscrabble childhood.
Glenn is reluctant to talk about his personal life, but offered voters a glimpse at his tough upbringing in a house troubled by domestic violence. His father became violent toward his mother one night in 1983 and Glenn stepped into the fray. He was charged with third-degree assault after his father said the son hit him. The charges were later dropped. And Glenn put it out of his mind until it came up .
“I want to do my best to explain that: the painful truth is that my parents’ marriage was violent. This was not the first night my father attacked my mother, and maybe more sadly, this wasn’t the worst time it happened–not even close,” .
His first campaign.
In eighth grade, Glenn wanted to run for student government. So his mother put him in the car and they went to the store to get sign-making materials. He credits her with setting his “course in history.”
Glenn lost his first actual political campaign for Colorado Springs city council. But he won appointment to the seat months later in 2003. He’s now an El Paso County Commissioner and the board’s vice-chairman. He’s served in local government for 13 years.
He’s engaged.
Glenn divorced his longtime wife in March; the couple have two daughters. But he found new love months later. He announced a relationship in August with Jane Northrup, an employment company owner. And the two informed campaign staff they became in early September. Northrup is the campaign.