Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet is one of the happiest people in politics right now
The GOP just cannot catch a break here. Despite signaling that he would challenge Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, District Attorney George Brauchler announced on Wednesday that he would
seek re-election instead. National Republicans had been courting Brauchler ever since their previous favorite, Rep. Rep. Mike Coffman, also decided to sit out the race.
Brauchler's decision leaves the NRSC back to square zero as they work to recruit a contender. A month ago, Rep. Scott Tipton didn't rule anything out, and he'll likely be getting some calls from influential Republicans. But beyond Tipton, most of the prospective GOP nominees don't look very impressive. State Sen. Tim Neville kicked off his bid this week and while he won a swing district last year, Neville's strong conservative views may not play well in a state Obama carried twice.
Rich guy Robert Blaha sounds likely to get in, but he doesn't seem to be impressing anyone in D.C. Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith recently expressed interest, but his ardent anti-gun control stances may also not go over so well in this swing state. State Senate President Bill Cadman and state Senate Majority Leader Mark Scheffel have also been mentioned as possible contenders, though they've said nothing about their plans. Besides Nevada, Colorado is the only realistic GOP Senate pickup and Team Red isn't going to let Bennet off easily, but they need to prove they can find a willing and able candidate.
As for Brauchler, it's unclear why he suddenly decided to stay out. A few weeks ago, Brauchler said he'd finalized his plans but wouldn't announce until October, a move we interpreted as his way of jumping in once the new campaign finance quarter began. We'll probably never know what really happened, but there are a few possible explanations. Brauchler may have seen unfavorable polls and decided that it wasn't worth giving up his post for a tough race. Brauchler has also appeared more interested in running for governor in 2018 and he may have just realized he didn't want to go through a difficult Senate race to win a job he didn't really want. Brauchler himself says he decided that the time wasn't right for his family for him to run and who knows, maybe that's the full story.
Brauchler also isn't the first almost-statewide candidate to say no at the last minute. Florida Republicans Jeff Atwater and Jeff Miller gave every indication that they would run for Senate, until they each suddenly announced that they would stay put. (Atwater is reconsidering though; see our FL-Sen item for more.) California Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa also spent weeks fanning rumors that he was this close to running for Senate until he said he was out, while Indiana Democrat Tom Sugar also sent similar signals just before he opted out of a gubernatorial bid. It's a good reminder that no matter what obvious hints politicians send about their plans, they have until the moment they say "I'm running," to back out.