This is a very easy decision. Joe O'Dea is a lifelong Coloradan and businessman who doesn't need to climb the corporate ladder and get a lobbying job after serving in Congress. He would have a more comfortable and easier life if he just kept running his company or even retiring. But the guy wants to make a difference, and for the right reasons. This is not to say that I think Joe is perfect. As with anyone like Joe who's spent a life being productive rather than thinking about principles of the American founding, Joe has some things to learn. And there are areas where some folks will find him too conservative and other areas where folks will find him not conservative enough. That's all OK. He's real. He listens to input. He engages in debate. And I think he'll do what he believes is right which is more important than thinking he'll always agree with me on what the right thing is. I don't believe I've ever contributed to a Senate candidate before; I did contribute to Joe O'Dea.
Ron Hanks, who ran for Congress in California as Loren Hanks, is either a bald-faced liar or wildly gullible. He is campaigning on a stolen election which is nonsense, and especially nonsensical here in Colorado. But put aside for a moment the (de)merits of the "stolen election" issue which, strangely, many Republicans still seem to believe. The bigger point is that the vast majority of voters have no interest in a backward-looking politician. They want someone whose focus is on the here-and-now, on inflation, crime, the border crisis, etc. Not someone who is so clearly just a remora swimming in the trail of the Great White Shark known as Donald Trump, hoping to swallow a piece of flesh that drifts by. Ron Hanks was also one of a small handful of Republicans who supported a bill that would ban abortion including in the cases of rape and incest. That is a position that is political death in Colorado.
Hanks is one of only two Republicans running in the Colorado primaries whom I would absolutely not vote for in the general election should they win the nominations (the other being Tina Peters.)
Furthermore, and this is very important: During the last legislative session, Mr. Hanks, who was elected to represent the people of his district, missed a huge number of committee votes and was known for showing up in the morning for roll call (e.g. to check in when "take attendance", to use a middle-school term) and then leaving for the day. He abandoned his job, leaving others to do his work and nobody to represent his district.
In short, Ron Hanks is both unfit for office and unelectable. Which is why Democrats (as of roughly June 7) began spending millions of dollars on advertising to try to convince Republican primary voters to support Hanks. Another article here. Dems have had success with this strategy in the past, including with supporting Dan Maes (who got 11% in the general election) in 2010. Don't take the bait. Support Joe O'Dea aggressively.
Original source can be found here
