May 28, 2024 11:38 AM UTC

Tanc In The Tank For Ron Hanks

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• by: Colorado Pols

Ernest Luning of the Colorado Springs Gazette’s political blog reported over the weekend on an endorsement anyone could have predicted as the conservative freakroots of the Colorado Republican Party coalesce around the official party-endorsed slate in the upcoming June 25th primary: former presidential candidate and congressman Tom Tancredo, who defined the ragged outer limits of conservative politics years before doing so became cool, is throwing his support behind former state Rep. “Raging” Ron Hanks in the Lauren Boebert-less CO-03 race:

“Ron Hanks is the only candidate with a proven conservative record,” Tancredo said in a statement released by Hanks’ campaign. “As a Colorado legislator he fought the Democrat swamp and defended our constitutional principles. He served our country for 32 years and will protect the 3rd District from the federal takeover. Our water, land and western way of life are under attack.”

Added Tancredo: “We must have a REAL battle tested conservative in Washington, DC.”

With that said, as we noted earlier this month when Tancredo endorsed Boebert in the CO-04 primary:

Tancredo’s recent endorsement track record is mixed at best.

That’s the nicest way possible to say that only a small fraction of Tancredo’s endorsed candidates go on to win the general election. Tanc does do somewhat better picking Republican primary nominees, and as we said Boebert may help move Tanc’s win average in the right direction. Hanks, who is running on a shoestring with no resources for traditional advertising, is totally dependent on external support and grassroots organizing to compete in the CO-03 race.

With no candidate emerging as dominant in the incumbent-less CO-03 primary (Sorry Jeff “Bread Sandwich” Hurd), the fundamentals like raising big money matter somewhat less given the assumption that those resources will unlock for whoever prevails on June 25th. That’s the assumption Hanks is counting on as he tries to make the case that he is the better ideological fit for the district than a lawyer from Grand Junction with no political experience who won’t commit to voting for Donald Trump.

It’s an easy choice for Tom Tancredo.