The Tea Party Express stuck with state Sen. Owen Hill after a big change in the Colorado Senate race.
Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, surprised everyone on Wednesday when he said he would run against Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colorado. The district attorney for Weld County, Ken Buck, then quit the race for the Senate to run for Gardner’s 4th District. Also, Amy Stephens, a state representative, is said to have dropped out of the race for the Senate.
Hill is not, though.
The Tea Party Express helped Buck get elected to the Senate in 2010, but this time they helped Hill. In fact, the Tea Party Express criticised Buck on Wednesday night when they asked for money:
Republican primary front-runner Ken Buck announced that he is dropping out of the race. This sounds like a deal made in a smoke-filled back room in Washington, D.C. Congressman Cory Gardner will take his place. Ken Buck will run for Congress in Gardner’s district in exchange for the favour. As part of the deal, each side had to say nice things about the other.
It’s clear that the Republican establishment in Washington, D.C. is worried about conservative Owen Hill’s upstart campaign and thinks that their chosen candidate will do better against the Tea Party. Very quickly, Congressman Gardner became a favourite of the Republican establishment in Washington, D.C. He even became a leader in the Republican Party last year.