Wake-Up Call: Ryan Frazier dumps a clunker for a new race

Ryan Frazier is trading in a clunker in favor of a much sleeker vehicle. Six months after the two-term Aurora City Councilman announced that he was running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, he's pulling out of that race and making a fast course correction for the 7th...

By Patricia Calhoun

October 15, 2009

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Ryan Frazier is trading in a clunker in favor of a much sleeker vehicle. Six months after the two-term Aurora City Councilman announced that he was running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate, he's pulling out of that race and making a fast course correction for the 7th Congressional District instead.

The charismatic Frazier will make that announcement this morning at Brighton Ford, the only family-owned auto dealership in Colorado that refused to participate in the federal government's "cash for clunkers" program.

The Senate race was looking like a clunker for the 32-year-old Frazier, with former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton and Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck getting most of the attention -- and the money -- in a crowded field. But a run for U.S. representative from the 7th should give Frazier, a true maverick who led the fight for Amendment 47, served in the military for five years and started a charter school, plenty of room to maneuver. Although Democrat Ed Perlmutter is now in his second term in the district, Bob Beauprez held the seat before, so Republicans could take it again.

Gentlemen, start your engines.

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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