The Colorado Republican Party State Assembly was held on April 9, 2016. Darryl Glenn won the convention with 70% of the vote. Robert Blaha, Jack Graham, Jon Keyser, and Ryan Frazier sought to qualify for the ballot by petition instead of through the State Assembly. Glenn won the June primary with about 37.5% of the vote in the crowded, five-candidate Republican primary field.
Candidate controversies In early May, the Denver ABC affiliate uncovered over 10 forged voter signatures on the petition which placed Republican candidate Jon Keyser on the June Republican primary ballot. The circulator who forged the signatures was arrested for 34 felonies. A late May lawsuit claiming at least 60 forged signatures based on the analysis of a handwriting expert and challenging Keyser's placement on the primary ballot was dismissed because it did not fall within the five-day window to challenge a ballot placement. When asked on-camera about the forgeries, Keyser did not address the issue, and proceeded to inform the interviewer that Keyser's dog was larger than the interviewer. In early June, when asked by a fellow Republican candidate and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel whether Keyser received his Bronze Star for work on a software program or for "kicking in doors" in combat as "represented to the community", Keyser refused to answer the question, and claimed he had "no idea" what software program his rival was talking about. Yet, according to the article announcing Keyser's citation, Keyser "developed and implemented a unique and effective technique to provide critical force protection and situational-awareness data to ground counter-terrorism operations." In August 2014, Republican candidate Jack Graham was fired as Colorado State University athletic director for unspecified reasons, though he would continue to be paid through the November 2016 election.
Candidates Nominee • Darryl Glenn,
El Paso County commissioner Eliminated in primary • Robert Blaha, businessman and candidate for
Colorado's 5th congressional district in
2012 • Ryan Frazier, former
Aurora city councilman, nominee for
Colorado's 7th congressional district in
2010, and candidate for mayor of
Aurora in 2011 (withdrew) • Jack Graham, businessman and former
Colorado State University athletic director •
Jon Keyser, former state representative
Withdrew •
Greg Lopez, former director of the
Small Business Administration Colorado District, former mayor of
Parker and candidate for
Colorado Senate in 2000
Rejected at convention • Charlie Ehler, retired air force computer programmer and Tea Party activist • Jerry Eller, former insurance and real estate agent • Tom Janich, former
Brighton School board member and
perennial candidate • Michael Kinlaw, mortgage broker • Jerry Natividad, businessman •
Tim Neville, state senator • Donald Rosier,
Jefferson County commissioner • Erik Underwood, former congressional staffer
Declined • Christian Anschutz, real estate developer • Wil Armstrong, businessman, candidate for
Colorado's 6th congressional district in
2008 and son of former U.S. Senator
William L. Armstrong • George Brauchler,
Arapahoe County district attorney •
Ken Buck, U.S. representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate
in 2010 (running for re-election) •
Bill Cadman, president of the
Colorado Senate • Dan Caplis, radio host •
Cynthia Coffman,
Colorado attorney general •
Mike Coffman, U.S. representative, former
secretary of state of Colorado and former
Colorado state treasurer (
running for reelection) • Dan Domenico, former solicitor general of Colorado •
Owen Hill, state senator and candidate for the U.S. Senate in
2014 •
Mike Kopp, former state senator and candidate for
governor in
2014 •
Steve Laffey, former mayor of
Cranston, Rhode Island, candidate for U.S. Senate from Rhode Island in
2006, and candidate for
Colorado's 4th congressional district in
2014 •
Josh Penry, former state senator •
Ellen Roberts, state senator • Doug Robinson, businessman •
Mark Scheffel, majority leader of the
Colorado Senate •
Ray Scott, state senator • Justin Smith,
Larimer County sheriff •
Jerry Sonnenberg, state senator •
Walker Stapleton, Colorado state treasurer •
Amy Stephens, former state representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate
in 2014 • Brian Watson, real estate developer == Third party and independent candidates ==