April 11, 2014 02:36 PM UTC

Renfroe Beats Buck At CD-4 Assembly

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• by: Colorado Pols

​As the Denver Post's Lynn Bartels reports:

State Sen. Scott Renfroe beat Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck for the top spot on the ballot in the race to succeed Congressman Cory Gardner, but both made the ballot Friday.

Renfroe, who was called a "statesman" by several supporters, took 54 percent of the delegate vote while Buck won 46 percent at the 4th Congressional District assembly, where abortion and "personhood" were mentioned…

Delegates cheered both Kirkmeyer and Renfroe when they said they were pro-life and supported personhood and would never change.

The dig was clearly intended at Buck, but it also implicates Gardner, who recently said it it was a mistake to support personhood, which gives rights to fertilized eggs. Gardner said he still opposes abortion but agrees with critics who say personhood also bans certain forms of birth control. [Pols emphasis]

Bartels reports that Weld County Commissioner Barbara Kirkmeyer, who is petitioning on to the CD-4 primary ballot, released her delegates to vote for other candidates–which may well have helped Sen. Scott Renfroe come out ahead of Ken Buck. Despite the "backroom deal" alleged to have paved the way for Buck to step into the CD-4 race as incumbent Rep. Cory Gardner moved up to the Senate race, we see an "anybody but Buck" scenario emerging, where Buck's opponents collude where necessary Survivor-style to ensure he doesn't prevail in June. The team hit on Buck, and collaterally Gardner, over flip-flopping on the "Personhood" abortion ban seems tailored to have that effect.

A poll follows–who will win this red-on-red battle?