Retired general may enter Colorado senate race

M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 10, 2007 at midnight

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A retired military man might be marching toward the 2008 U.S. Senate race.

Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Bentley Rayburn, a political rookie who made a surprising showing in a Republican congressional primary last year, said he is being urged to run to replace the retiring Sen. Wayne Allard.

"We’re considering it. We’re talking to a lot of people," Rayburn said in a telephone interview Friday. "If I decide it’s right to get into that fight, I need to get in right away."

Rayburn said one factor he is considering is his admiration for another Republican who is considering the race, former Congressman Bob Schaffer, a Republican.

"If he was to tell me tomorrow (that) he was going to run, that would completely change around my decision process," Rayburn said.

Schaffer has said he is considering the race but that he has no timetable for announcing a decision. Former Congressman Scott McInnis also is considering the Republican race, and Rep. Mark Udall is expected to seek the Democratic nod.

Rayburn’s entry would add a wild card element to the contest, since he’s a political outsider who still managed to get third place — ahead of better-known Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera — in the crowded Republican race last year to succeed Rep. Joel Hefley, who retired.

"I ran for congress and only had about three months or a little bit more than that (to prepare)," Rayburn said. "We did fairly well."

"The difference is now, instead of 3 1/2 months, we’d have a year and a half before the primaries," Rayburn said. "We’d need to make a decision real soon, because we need every day that we’ve got to get around Colorado."

Rayburn, who describes himself as a "social conservative" and "fiscal conservative," said his military experience makes him uniquely positioned to run right now.

"First, I’m not a politician," he said. "Second, obviously war is a big deal, and there is not, in my opinion, enough credible military experience in both the House and Senate."

Bob Loevy, a political science professor at Colorado College, said Rayburn’s third-place finish in the congressional primary was impressive, but that a statewide race is a different ballgame.

Loevy said Rayburn would have "only an outside chance" to win a Senate seat because of his lack of elective experience. "It’s rare for senators to come out of nowhere," Loevy said. "There are exceptions. . . Senators who come out of nowhere are more likely to win when they get a nomination that nobody wants and then it becomes valuable because there’s a national sweep (for the party)."

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