Frazier Will Challenge Perlmutter Instead of Bennet in Colorado
Aurora City Councilman Ryan Frazier (R) is ending his long-planned bid for Senate and instead will challenge Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) in the 7th district next year.Frazier made the announcement Thursday in Brighton, a Denver suburb in the district in which Perlmutter is serving his second term.“It’s time to re-energize the people’s House with new leadership and better solutions,— Frazier said in a statement his campaign released. “The 7th Congressional district represents the right path, right now to do my part in helping make America better.—The district includes most of Aurora, where Frazier is serving his second term as an at-large member of the City Council, as well as some other close-in suburbs west, north and east of Denver.Frazier kicked off his Senate campaign in April to some national attention. One of a handful of Republicans challenging appointed Sen. Michael Bennet (D), Frazier was bidding to become the second black Republican Senator since the Reconstruction era more than a century ago.His departure from the Senate race is an acknowledgement of the strength of the recently announced candidacy of former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, who is the best-known GOP candidate in a crowded primary field.Frazier has a much better chance of securing the Republican nomination in the 7th district, though he would face a sturdy opponent in Perlmutter, who won a second term in 2008 with 63 percent of the vote in a district that President Barack Obama carried with 59 percent. Perlmutter reported raising $201,000 in this year’s third quarter and had $912,000 in cash on hand as October began. Frazier planned to file a third-quarter report for his Senate committee by midnight Thursday.