In the 5th congressional district, it's the battle of conservatives

Whether Doug Lamborn wins a second term or Jeff Crank or Bentley Rayburn unseats him, it won't much change the conservative representation in the 5th Congressional District.

Because all three share rightleaning views on the war, immigration, taxes and social issues, the Republican primary race in the six-county area has become a contest over who's more conservative, more devoted to the military and more of a leader.

The winner, to be decided in the Aug. 12 primary, will face Democrat Hal Bidlack in November.

Bidlack is a long shot in the GOP-dominated district that contains nearly 700,000 people and encompasses El Paso, Teller, Fremont, Chaffee and Lake counties, as well as most of Park County.

The Republican face-off is a repeat of 2006, minus three others, but this time Lamborn has a record to defend. "I have a solid record of getting things done for the district as a leader," he said.

His opponents disagree.

Rayburn calls Lamborn, who served 12 years in the state Legislature, a career politician who takes credit for others' work, such as bringing a veterans cemetery to southern Colorado.

Lamborn has said repeatedly he worked hard to land the cemetery, but he wasn’t mentioned by Colorado’s other lawmakers when the cemetery was announced.

Rayburn and Crank accuse him of bungling the job, noting he failed to muster but a few votes against a 2007 bill that delayed expansion of Fort Carson’s Piñon Canyon training ground.

Lamborn said the criticism is unfair — the same bill passed the Senate, but no one slammed Colorado Republican Sen. Wayne Allard for failing to block it.

“They’re singling me out because they have nothing else to criticize me for, and they’re grasping at straws,” he said. “Piñon Canyon was already a losing cause when I was sworn in. The positions were already hardened.”

Crank and Rayburn complain Lamborn spent more than other members of Colorado’s Washington delegation on franked mail, taxpayer-funded letters to constituents. His bill totaled $135,000 in 2007.

Crank promises to forgo franked mail and try to prevent others from using it.

Rayburn said Lamborn has used it to send out campaign material. “That’s just wrong,” he said.

Lamborn defends the mailings as the best way to communicate with constituents.

Heavily criticized for not responding to constituent concerns, Lamborn said that he’s heard “a hatful” of complaints, but that they stem from the inability to change a law or persuade an agency to change its position.

Richard Soudriette of Colorado Springs gave Lamborn’s office high marks for constituent service. “Thanks to Congressman Lamborn’s staff, I received my passport in a few days before I was scheduled to make an international trip,” he said. “His staff was especially friendly, thorough and expeditious.”

Earmarks are another sore spot with Lamborn’s opponents.

Lamborn has sought earmarks — spending measures that are neither debated nor revealed until they’re approved — for several campaign donors.

Crank, who said he never technically sought earmarks as a lobbyist, said he’ll fight to end the practice. “I want to introduce legislation for a blanket policy that you can’t seek earmarks for someone you took (campaign) money from,” he said.

One of Rayburn’s and Crank’s biggest frustrations has been Lamborn’s refusal to debate.

“If he’s unwilling to debate me, he’s certainly not going to do very well against (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi,” Crank said.

Lamborn said voters know where he stands.

The sniping isn’t confined to attacks on the incumbent.

Crank accuses Rayburn of going back on his word after he bailed on a pact to withdraw if a poll showed him losing. Rayburn said the poll was faulty.

Crank also blasts him for moving here shortly before jumping into the 2006 race and for not paying property taxes in the district.

Rayburn said he spent summers as a youth in Colorado and his wife grew up here. “We have always considered this home,” he said, adding he will buy or build a home here, win or lose.

Rayburn, in turn, accuses Crank of waging a negative campaign.

Lamborn’s ads call Crank deceptive and label him a lobbyist — a strategy that worked for Allard when Democrat Tom Strickland, a former lobbyist, challenged him in 2002.

As for their take on how they would perform if elected:

• Crank wants to scale back the federal government, dump the IRS and several other departments and return the GOP to fiscal conservatism.

“It’s important to vote and have a good voting record,” Crank said, a reference to Lamborn’s consistently being named among the most conservative Congress members. “But it’s also important to lead, push and challenge Republican and Democratic leadership and articulate that.”

• Rayburn, a retired Air Force major general, wants to see more veterans in Congress. His background, he said, prepares him to see the big picture.

“We have to have people who have been there and done that and understand what’s going on,” he said.

• Lamborn said he will keep doing what he’s doing.

“I have done what I promised when I was elected — that I would stand up for the military and veterans, I would push for conservative fiscal principles and defend traditional moral values.”

DOUG LAMBORN
An attorney, he served 12 years in the Colorado House and Senate. He was elected to Congress in 2006. Contact: www.lambornforcongress.com; 238-9077.

BENTLEY RAYBURN
A retired Air Force major general, he attended the Air Force Academy. He holds a master’s degree in political science and attended Harvard School for Senior Executives in National Security. Contact: e-mail: askbentley@rayburnforcongress.org; 884-7457.

JEFF CRANK

A former aid for Rep. Joel Hefley, he holds a bachelor’s degree and works as a business consultant. Contact: e-mail: jeffcrank08@gmail.com; 264-6306.