Ryan Frazier Appears Set to Switch Races

by Ari Armstrong | 11:51 pm, October 12, 2009 | 5 Comments

A few hours ago Ryan Frazier, candidate for U.S. Senate, commented on his Twitter feed: "Hi everyone, I’m going to be making a big announcement this week. Stay tuned for more details."

Ben DeGrow writes: "My guess? Fundraising numbers for the third quarter were less than stellar, and higher-ups in the party finally had the leverage to persuade Frazier to take a stab at the 7th Congressional District instead."

This is so obvious I'm stunned I didn't think of it before. Last month I speculated that Frazier might jump races to lieutenant governor. But there's one huge problem with that: Scott McInnis and Josh Penry are duking it out for the Republican nomination for governor. Plus, it's sort of a lame position, especially for someone with Frazier's political hunger.

Perhaps I didn't think of congress because I think of the Seventh as Arvada, not Aurora. But look at the map. It is a strangely drawn district that goes right around Denver.

I personally like Brian Campbell, the guy currently in the race on the GOP side. But I never seriously thought Campbell had a chance to beat out Ed Perlmutter, who has walked over his opponents with ease.

A Frazier run against Perlmutter means that the Colorado GOP has a serious chance to pick off three big Democrats: Governor Bill Ritter (via Penry or McInnis), Senator Michael Bennet (via Jane Norton), and Perlmutter. Suddenly the best-case scenario for Republicans looks very good indeed.

Unfortunately, I know very little about Norton, except that she worked for Bill Owens, which means that she's at least strongly associated with the tax-and-spend "Country Club" wing of the GOP. Apparently she's against abortion.

I know a bit more about Frazier. He's better than most Republicans on economic matters -- which is sort of like saying he smells better than Roquefort. He supports domestic partnerships for gay couples. And he seems to personally oppose abortion without getting too excited about banning it.

Frazier's socially moderate views will play much better in the metro 'burbs than they would play in rural Weld County or in El Paso, home of Focus on the Family. And the House seems a much more plausible step up for a city councilor.

I suppose we will see very soon whether the official story matches the obvious scenario.

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