GOP Primary Goes Negative as Ron Hanks Blasts Joe O’Dea
The Republican primary in Colorado turned negative this week after election denier and leading GOP Senate candidate mocked first-time GOP candidate Joe O’Dea for not being able to tell the difference between American and Russian military aircraft. Hanks also blasted O’Dea for his support of the bipartisan infrastructure law and said “his support for President Biden's unthinkable multi-trillion dollar omnibus bill, well, that's an ugly bird that's gonna come crashing down.”
Hanks' attack echoes criticism O’Dea has received from other Republicans. Former GOP Senate candidate Gino Campana traded barbs with O’Dea and said “Colorado Republicans don’t want someone who worked against Ken Buck… they want a solid conservative.”
Colorado Politics reported on what’s to be the beginning of a nasty and divisive primary. Read excerpts below:
Colorado Republican Joe O'Dea launched a new TV ad this weekend in his bid to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.
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The initial version of the ad, released online, however, included a split-second clip of Russian military jets soaring among the clouds as the ad's narrator says O'Dea is running to "support the police and military."
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A spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party mocked the O'Dea team's mistake as emblematic of the Republican's difficulties connecting with voters.
“Joe O’Dea’s introduction to Coloradans in his primary campaign was promoting the Russian Air Force and opposing a woman’s right to choose," Nico Delgado told Colorado Politics. "Say what you will about Ron Hanks’ embrace of Trump’s election conspiracies, at least he knows what United States Air Force aircraft looks like.”
O'Dea is running in Colorado's June primary against state Rep. Ron Hanks, R-Cañon City, a retired military intelligence officer who spent 32 years in the Air Force. Bennet, who is running for a third full term, is unopposed for his party's nomination.
Hanks told Colorado Politics he is willing to cut his primary opponent some slack before unloading on O'Dea's support for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation.
"Every rookie politician makes mistakes like that so I'm not gonna be hard on O'Dea because his hired campaign team doesn't know the difference between Russian Fulcrums and Flankers and American Hornets and Raptors. But his support for President Biden's unthinkable multi-trillion dollar omnibus bill, well, that's an ugly bird that's gonna come crashing down onto Colorado families at any time and voters need to know that," Hanks said in a text message.