Rayburn-Crank agreement on congressional race falls apart

A deal that would have winnowed the Republican field from three to two in the 5th Congressional District has fallen apart, with Bentley Rayburn calling it "a disaster" and pulling out of the agreement Monday after a poll gave Jeff Crank a 17-point advantage.

Rayburn, a former Air Force officer, and Crank, a Colorado Springs businessman, agreed in late May to conduct a poll jointly with the understanding that whoever prevailed would face Rep. Doug Lamborn in the Aug. 12 primary election.

The deal was instigated by the Colorado Springs Housing and Building Association, which proposed conducting a scientific poll to determine whether Crank or Rayburn was running stronger "in order to mutually agree on a candidate to move forward against Lamborn," Rayburn's press release said.

Lamborn was elected two years ago after a six-way primary that included both Crank and Rayburn.

"While our polling data has shown and continues to show that we can win in a three-way race against Lamborn and Crank — a two-way race is certainly preferable," Rayburn's campaign said in the release. It also said the campaign opposes a "good ol' boys" backroom deal but felt a poll might show an indication of whom rank and file voters support.

"Too often our party has allowed a small group of ‘kingmakers' to make the candidate decisions that resulted in our party's loss of elections on all levels," the press release said.

But, the campaign said, "The implementation of this poll was a disaster." Polling wasn't conducted on time,  and though polling was supposed to be suspended, it somehow was resumed, Rayburn's team said.

"This gross violation of the fundamental operating procedures has led our campaign to lose confidence in the entire effort," the press release said, adding a three-way race for the nomination "is all but inevitable."

"It's very unfortunate that Bentley Rayburn has chosen to violate his word," Crank's campaign manager Alan Philp said.

"The fact of the matter is the contract stipulates that anything over a four-point margin compels the loser to pull out," Philp said, adding that Rayburn's allegations that Crank's polling firm acted improperly are unfounded.

"This is clearly the case that they saw the results and they're looking to get out of it," he said. "The data is conclusive and compelling."