While everyone was focused on the shocking election results in VA-07, an email hit my inbox that could lead to another comfortable conservative being unseated in a Republican primary.
This time in Colorado.
Gun Owners of America has decided to support retired Air Force General Bentley Rayburn over Representative Doug Lamborn in the CD-05 Republican primary, according to a press release from the Rayburn campaign.
“We, along with other conservative organizations and individuals, have lost confidence in Mr. Lamborn based on his lack of leadership,” Vice Chairman of GOA Tim Macy explains. “General Rayburn has shown true leadership from the time he started at the Air Force Academy, throughout his exceptional career and serving his church and community.”
Representative Doug Lamborn has been in office for a while now and has been a rather reliable vote on the conservative side. His Heritage Action score is an 84% for the 113th Congress, but it was a 94% in the 112th.
I don’t have to be a genius to know that number went drastically in the wrong direction since his reelection in 2012.
This is in a +15 Republican district. Lamborn should not only have a higher Heritage score, he should be using the advantage of his very safe district to lead.
But he hasn’t led. Lamborn has been a meek and weak voice for conservative principles. Lamborn has the flexibility to be a voice like that of Ted Cruz and Mike Lee because of how conservative his district is, and yet he isn’t.
Many conservatives in the district, myself among them, have concerns about Lamborn’s affinity for earmarks and the appearance of impropriety that comes with having his wife on his taxpayer funded staff.
Rayburn received nearly 40% of the delegate votes at the CD-05 caucus earlier this spring after just a week in the race. A source close to the Rayburn campaign also informed me that internal polls show tell tale signs of electoral weakness, poor marks on leadership, and a real lack of enthusiasm for Lamborn as a candidate.
Votes are already being cast in this primary election, which is an all mail ballot election, as are all Colorado elections now.
While Lamborn has been relatively absent on the air, Rayburn has had ads on the local radio stations for weeks that focus on his time in the Air Force, leadership, and a positive vision for not just Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, but the country at large.
I don’t know how this race is going to shake out, but I do hope that Bentley Rayburn can win. I had the chance to interview Rayburn back in April, and I really liked him them. He seemed to be a man of character and conviction.
Those are the type of men and women we need in elected office.
My ballot came yesterday, and I will vote for Bentley Rayburn.
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