The first forum for Republican candidates looking to unseat U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) took place in Lakewood Tuesday night. The indoor event had about 90 attendees, only 5 of them wearing masks, and was hosted by Foothills Republicans, a conservative organization based in Golden.
“And you know, the poll watchers, we’re going to train them to be more aggressive. There’s no more of this, ‘Sit in the corner and don’t touch anything and don’t talk to anybody.’ We’re going to be bulldogs from here forward.”
Last night, on the first anniversary of the storming of the U.S. Capitol, Colorado state Rep. Ron Hanks, who hopes to work as a senator in that building next year, listed the Republican candidates seated next to him who also participated in the insurrection. He did this to impress prominent conspiracist and Trump ally Mike Lindell, the featured speaker of the evening’s election fraud conspiracy Zoom meeting hosted by Sherronna Bishop, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s former campaign manager, which Hanks and other 2022 GOP candidates had joined.
Below is a list of 2022 U.S. Senate candidates from Colorado followed by their opinions on election fraud conspiracies surrounding the 2020 presidential election. These conspiracy theories have been roundly debunked by independent fact-checkers, courts, and election security experts.
At a joint fundraiser in Colorado Springs Wednesday night, three Republican candidates for Colorado offices urged their supporters to unite under the cause of fraud in the 2020 election and to stir doubt in the upcoming elections — even if that means going against members of their own party.
Colorado Republicans show no sign of stopping their attacks against last year’s election results, both in Colorado and nationwide — even though claims that the 2020 election was rigged in favor of the Democrats have been debunked.
In his campaign announcement to challenge U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) in 2022, far-right state Rep. Ron Hanks (R-Cañon City) exploded a copy machine with the label “Dominion Voting Machine” on its side. In the announcement video, Hanks labeled himself a “pro-Trump warrior” and said that Joe Biden was not fairly elected in 2020.
The campaign to convince 75% of the Colorado GOP state central committee members to vote to opt out of open primaries picked up an endorsement from a former conservative legislator recently.
The consequences of the “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Trump, didn’t end with the storming of our nation’s Capitol on January 6. Even small counties in southern Colorado are threatened by those who believe the lie, and those who perpetuate it.
“We’re walking between the Capitol building and the police force…and this doesn’t feel right to me as a guy who knows a little bit about physical security,” state Rep. Ron Hanks (R-Penrose) said in a July 14 interview, recounting his own participation in the Jan. 6 rally and march to the U.S. Capitol that led to Trump supporters overwhelming police and storming the building.
