February 10, 2009 10:13 PM UTC

Bennet Primary Moves Closer

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• by: Colorado Pols

According to Roll Call Sen. Michael Bennet may be inching ever closer to a serious primary challenge:

In the weeks since Bennet took office, Colorado Democrats continue to keep an eye on [Andrew] Romanoff – who left office in January because of term limits – to see whether he will challenge Ritter’s hand-picked successor.

Romanoff could not be reached for comment Monday, but multiple Colorado sources said there has been increasing chatter in political circles that Bennet will not make it through the 2010 primary without a serious challenge.

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there was a primary against Bennet,” said Steve Welchert, who heads up a Denver-based Democratic consulting firm. “It would shock me if he wasn’t challenged.”

There’s little question that Romanoff is seriously considering a primary challenge, and he may not be the only one if the rumor mills are correct. This was one of the potential problems that Gov. Bill Ritter created by appointing the unknown Bennet, because it’s hard to believe that another Democrat would have been considering a serious challenge to a more well-known incumbent Senator like Romanoff, Ed Perlmutter or John Hickenlooper.

If Bennet does get ousted in a primary in 2010, the irony in all of this is that it is Ritter who will be severely weakened. A more well-known Democrat might be tougher to beat in a general election than Bennet, which would highlight Ritter’s mistake to begin with.