Late surge by Lamborn stuns Crank

El Paso's absentees set up race against Democrat Fawcett

Dick Foster And Joe Garner, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 9, 2006 at midnight

Text size  

• 0 Comments
• Email
• Print

COLORADO SPRINGS - Absentee votes gave Republican State Sen. Doug Lamborn a late-night win in the 5th Congressional District race to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley.

The posting of those votes from El Paso County suddenly vaulted Lamborn into the lead for the first time, after former Hefley aide Jeff Crank seemed to have secured the top spot.

The 5th District is heavily Republican, giving Lamborn a commanding advantage in the November race against Democrat Jay Fawcett. The district has never elected a Democrat.

During the evening, Lamborn sat hunched over a computer terminal, watching updated vote totals that continuously favored Crank. Just before 11 p.m., Lamborn took a walk and was alone outside the City Auditorium when about 17,000 absentee votes were released.

In that instant, Lamborn immediately went from trailing Crank by 1,500 votes to victory.

Jubilant campaign workers rushed from the auditorium and tracked down Lamborn a block away. TV cameras and reporters flocked behind.

"Oh, gosh, I can't believe this," Lamborn, 52, said before the bright lights of cameras that surrounded him in an impromptu news conference on the sidewalk.

"There were some great people who were running and these were men who had much to bring to the table, and I'm honored to be among them as candidates," Lamborn said, struggling to compose his thoughts.

Asked why he had left to take a walk, Lamborn said simply, "I had to say a prayer and ask that God's will be done."

He issued a challenge for Republicans to go forward from this day "to unite and to beat Jay Fawcett," a retired Air Force officer who had no primary opponent.

Lamborn attributed his win to a strong conservative record during his 11 years in the legislature.

"Republican voters wanted that in their candidate," he said.

As the ballots were tallied, however, it seemed that southern Colorado Republicans were favoring Crank, Hefley's former administrative director.

At 39, Crank was the youngest of the six GOP candidates in the heated race to succeed Hefley, who is serving his 10th and final term in the House.

Crank had Hefley's endorsement and the blessing of a slew of military and evangelical Christian leaders for his socially conservative, small-government, low-tax platform.

At one point, Crank told jubilant supporters he was looking forward to the November general election against Fawcett.

Still, the cautious Crank never claimed victory.

"It's very encouraging," he said when his lead was widening. "We're not done yet, but we're doing OK."

When the absentee ballots were posted, the festive atmosphere at his election-night party suddenly went flat. Supporters watched in stunned silence as visions of victory suddenly vanished.

Beginning at a unity rally today in downtown Colorado Springs, state GOP party chairman Bob Martinez said the goal is to heal the wounds the hard-fought campaign has opened.

Crank and Lamborn were considered among the leaders in the race, based on contributions and endorsements.

Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera also was considered a front-runner, but he finished in the lower tier of candidates.

The first-term mayor, whose term ends in spring 2007, said he was disappointed but suggested voters were looking for a more conservative message on taxes.

"We ran on my record as mayor, and apparently voters were looking for another message," Rivera said.

The other contenders in the GOP primary were former El Paso County Sheriff John Anderson, former El Paso County Commissioner Duncan Bremer and retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn, a political newcomer who made a surprisingly strong third-place showing.

All of the candidates except Anderson hold almost identical positions against tax increases, abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage.

Lamborn appeared to gain a slight edge with his strong anti-tax message, but other candidates accused him of distorting their tax positions and of condoning a Christian Coalition of Colorado mailer smearing Crank and Rivera for purportedly supporting the "homosexual lobby."

5th District voter breakdown

County Republican Democrat Unaffiliated

• Chaffee 5,161 3,218 3,706

• El Paso 158,491 71,822 111,351

• Fremont 11,742 6,502 7,635

• Lake 1,044 2,088 1,584

• Park 2,508 1,332 2,248

• Teller 8,191 3,143 5,412

Total 187,137 88,105 131,936

Featured

• 2008 Voter’s Guide

  

  Use our Ballot Builder tool to compare your viewpoints to the candidates.

• A Dozen on Denver

  

  Sandra Dallas wrote 'Lennie's tavern' for our ongoing fiction series. Check it out!

• Rocky Multimedia

  

  The news comes alive in our videos and slide shows. Catch up on today's events.

• Bronco Dean's rant

  

  Listen to Bronco Dean's totally biased pregame rant about the Broncos-Jaguars game.

• Presidential Elections

  

  See how Colorado counties have voted through the years.

• County election profiles

  

  A look at how residents in each Colorado county may vote.

• A dream fulfilled

  

  A Rocky Mountain News and MediaStorm production

• Latest from Dove Valley

  

  Click for more broncos videos.

• Sam Adams' Open Mic

  

  No. 44 means a lot to Floyd Little