Colorado Peak Politics says that Colorado state Sen. Owen Hill (R) announced on Monday that he will not run for the Senate. This means that Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) does not have a strong primary opponent as he tries to beat Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) in November.
Hill, who was backed by the Tea Party Express, didn’t want to drop out of the race at first and said that Gardner had put pressure on him to do so.
Hill wrote in an email to his supporters, “Today is the last day of my campaign for the U.S. Senate.” “Thank you for always being there to help and cheer me on this journey. In November, Cory Gardner has the best chance of beating Mark Udall, and I hope he does.
In February, Gardner decided to run for the Senate. This gave Republicans a more well-known candidate to run against Udall. As soon as Gardner made his decision public, former Senate candidate Ken Buck (R) said he would instead run for Gardner’s House seat, and Colorado state Rep. Amy Stephens (R) also dropped out.
Hill told the Colorado Springs Gazette in February, “This is the exact same corruption and back-room deals that have caused the Republican party to lose elections year after year.”
Now that the primary is over, Gardner can put all of his energy into getting money for the general election against Udall.