Two Colorado Republicans who served as secretary of the interior on Saturday endorsed Joe O'Dea in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Michael Bennet.
Gale Norton, a former state attorney general, and David Bernhardt, an energy and natural resources attorney, called the wealthy construction company owner's focus on American energy independence the key to unseating the two-term incumbent.
"The exploding cost of energy, and the inflationary disaster it has helped trigger, are at the top of the list. O’Dea’s formula — focusing on fixing inflation and high energy costs – is how Republicans win Colorado," Norton and Bernhardt said in a joint opinion piece set to run Sunday in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.
O'Dea is facing state Rep. Ron Hanks, a first-term lawmaker from Canon City, in Colorado's June 28 Republican primary. Hanks was the only candidate to emerge from the GOP's state assembly last month, while O'Dea won a spot on the ballot by petition.
"A return to balance means increasing energy production on federal lands, requiring the Bureau of Land Management to restart regular leasing on the western slope, which produces some of the cleanest gas on the planet," Norton and Bernhardt said in their endorsement. "O’Dea has also promised to encourage sensible state energy policies. A little push from a tough, accomplished, construction CEO turned U.S. Senator would remind officials that plentiful energy reduces consumer prices."
They added: "Heaven knows, Colorado needs it. Our state has an abundance of energy assets – oil, gas, wind, and solar. We believe if we rally behind Joe O’Dea’s leadership and common-sense, we can unlock those resources, attack inflation, promote energy independence, and get our state and country headed in the right direction. We urge voters to join us in supporting Joe O’Dea for U.S. Senate."
O'Dea called Norton and Bernhardt "smart, accomplished leaders" in a statement to Colorado Politics welcoming their support.
"Imagine how much better off Coloradans and Americans would be if they were leading Interior still — turning the spigot on and making America energy independent," he added.
Norton served as interior secretary under former President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006, and Bernhardt, a Rifle native, was former President Donald Trump's second interior secretary from 2019 to 2021. In between their tenures, Colorado Democrat Ken Salazar, who held the U.S. Senate seat Bennet is defending, served in the same position under former President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013.
Bernhardt previously endorsed one of O'Dea's primary rivals, calling real estate developer Gino Campana the best Republican to unseat Bennet, but Campana failed to make the primary ballot.
Mail ballots start going out to most Colorado voters on June 6. They're due back to county clerks by 7 p.m. June 28.
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