Eric Eidsness became the second Democrat in two weeks to drop out of the 4th district primary — and in doing so appears to have cleared Betsy Markey’s path to the Democratic nomination.

Markey, a former member of Sen. Ken Salazar’s (D) staff, is the choice of the Democratic establishment to take on Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R), who garnered less than 50 percent of the vote in November while barely defeating then-state Rep. Angie Paccione — despite the Republican bent of her Fort Collins-area district.

Paccione dropped out of the Democratic primary last week, citing a private-sector opportunity too good to pass up.

“While my populist message appeals to a broad range of voters, particularly in the more rural areas, I do not have the support I will need here in Larimer County to win the Democratic nomination,” Eidsness, a former Republican, told The Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper.

Eidsness won 11 percent of the vote last year running on the Reform Party slate.

— David M. Drucker