My Colorado Primary Ballot

Editor’s note: The following are the views of my co-blogger Randy Ketner, aka Night Twister, from Larimer County, and do not necessarily reflect my own views.

Like most registered voters in Colorado, I received my Primary Election ballot in the mail last week. Ballots are due by August 10, but I’ve already made my decisions so I’ll be mailing it in tomorrow. There are only 4 competitive races on my primary ballot. I’ll start with the only Federal race, and move to State and Local races afterwards:

U.S. Senate

This race is between Ken Buck and Jane Norton. There’s been more than enough written about this race, so I’m not going to get into the details. As far as I can tell, there’s little discernible difference between the candidates. They’re both conservative and would likely vote the same way on all major legislation. I’ve said for some time now that I really don’t have a preference here, but I have my ballot now, so I’m at the point of choosing.

In the end, I based my decision on two issues, which are fundraising ability and electability vs. Michael Bennet, the likely Democrat candidate. Jane Norton has shown herself able to raise the kind of money necessary to battle Bennet, and in my opinion would do better in a head-to-head fight against him.

Governor

When Bill Ritter announced he would not run for a second term, this race became more competitive. It was a shoo-in for the Republican candidate before then. Even still, I had this race at “Leans Republican” until the past month. It was then that Dan Maes chose to pay the rest of his CoH to pay campaign finance violations without a fight and then just two weeks ago it came out that Scott McInnis plagiarized works that he submitted to obtain campaign contributions. I had planned to vote for McInnis, especially after Maes paid his fines, but now I find neither candidate worthy of my vote.

Because of this, I will be an undervote for the GOP Governor Primary.

Treasurer

I find little difference between J.J. Ament and Walker Stapleton. As with the Senate race, I’m going with who I believe has a better chance to beat the Democrat incumbent, and that is J.J. Ament.

Larimer County Sheriff

This election is between Carl Bruning and Justin Smith. This one came down to who I believe would better protect our Second Amendment rights. That candidate is Carl Bruning.

Night Twister