CO-04: Republican Rep. Ken Buck's retirement announcement on Wednesday will likely draw widespread interest from Republicans in running for his safely red district, and conservative talk radio host Deb Flora joined the primary on Thursday. Flora ran for Senate last year and took second place at the state party's assembly, trailing state Rep. Ron Hanks by 39-29, which was just below the 30% she needed to advance to the primary ballot. (Hanks ultimately lost that primary 54-46 to businessman Joe O'Dea, who in turn lost to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet by 56-41 last fall).
Weld County Council member Trent Leisy, who calls himself a "die-hard" Trump supporter, also launched his own primary campaign against Buck last week just before the congressman called it quits. In an unusual arrangement compared to the vast majority of counties nationwide, Weld County elects both a commission that acts as its head of county government and a council with more limited powers.
Local NBC affiliate KUSA also has a long list of potential candidates, the following of whom have confirmed they're considering:
- state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg
- Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon
- Douglas County Commissioner Lora Thomas
- former state House Minority Leader Patrick Neville
- 2018 attorney general nominee George Brauchler
Former state party chair Kristi Burton Brown didn't fully shut the door on running but said it was "highly unlikely" that she would go for it. She instead said she was "highly likely" to run for the state Board of Education seat that corresponds to this same congressional district so that she could remain in Colorado with her family.
The following Republicans told KUSA they won't run:
- Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams
- Douglas County Commissioner George Teal
- former state Sen. Greg Brophy
KUSA also says state Sen. Barb Kirmeyer won’t run here and will seek reelection instead, but there's no direct quote from her. Kirkmeyer lost a close race last cycle for the swingy 8th Congressional District next door to the 4th, and she previously said she wouldn’t run for that seat again.
Meanwhile, the Republicans below didn't respond to KUSA:
- state House Minority Leader Mike Lynch
- Former state Sen. Ted Harvey
- 2020 gubernatorial nominee Heidi Ganahl
However, Colorado Politics reported that Ganahl was considering running, but there's no direct word about her interest. Ganahl won an at-large seat on the University of Colorado's Board of Regents in 2016, making her the last Republican to win a statewide office in the Centennial State, but she lost in a 59-39 landslide when she challenged Democratic Gov. Jared Polis last year.
The only other Republican who had taken steps to run earlier this year is state Rep. Richard Holtorf, who formed an exploratory committee in September after Buck spoke out against his party's drive to impeach Joe Biden.