State Sen. Ray Scott, R-Grand Junction, confirmed this week that he’s considering running for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Michael Bennet.

If he jumps in — he said he’s in no rush to decide — Scott would join a crowded primary field that grew larger last week when state Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, officially launched his campaign. Others in the race include El Paso County Commissioner Darryl Glenn, former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez and activist Charlie Ehler.

Scott said he’s weighing whether it makes sense for his family to enter the race but that he also is considering whether he can fill an electable niche among the candidates already in the race.

“If I do decide to run,” Scott told The Colorado Statesman, “what am I going to bring to the table that someone else can’t or won’t?”

Acknowledging that he’s been “encouraged” to seek the nomination — although he declined to say who’s done the encouraging — Scott said he’s confident he could raise the money necessary to win a primary and that he could also match Bennet if he won the nomination, particularly because the Democrat is the only Senate incumbent up for reelection in a swing state next year.

“Can I win a primary? I’ve won it before,” he said. “I’m fairly confident I could do that.”

Scott was first elected to the Colorado House in 2010, besting a three-way field in heavily Republican Mesa County. He won a second term the next cycle and then won his Senate seat last year with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Citing an adage he said he’d heard a while back, Scott added, “If you raise a lot of money, it doesn’t mean you’re going to win, but without it, you’re definitely going to lose.”

Among his considerations, he said, are whether the candidates in the field can gain the support of the state’s up-for-grabs unaffiliated voters.

“Is it possible? Of course it’s possible,” Scott said. “Colorado’s going to be a battleground, as usual, and I’m sure there’s going to be money in from all sectors to make it happen in Colorado. It absolutely can be done. The bigger picture is, how do we, as a party, determine who the right person is to go forward. Colorado has proven itself not to be a state of extremism. If you’re too far one way or the other, that doesn’t work.” He added, “If you’re a smart candidate, you have to figure out where you fit in that mix. Just a knee jerk and say, I’m running for office, usually it doesn’t end well, let’s put it that way.”

Scott, who has a background in the energy industry and is currently working in the construction field, said he’d also bring geographic diversity to the race. Most of Colorado’s statewide elected officials hail from a narrow stretch of the Front Range — excepting Gardner, whose hometown is out on the eastern plains — and Scott wondered aloud if voters might be attracted to a Western Sloper.

“Can I bring a different look , a different perspective to the ballgame?” he mused. “I think we need a representative in the U.S Senate who has a well rounded perspective on what’s going on out there. If you come from western Colorado, you know what it’s like to balance a budget, you know what it’s like to figure out priorities,” he said. “We sit on the back porch and decide – here’s the money we have to deal with. I think it’s going to take people like that to bring the conversation down to a much more simple level.”

Primarily, though, he said he wants to see Bennet unseated.

“Things that concern me include this Iran deal he signed onto, which is very disturbing, that’s a very disturbing situation for the entire world. That shook me pretty hard,” Scott said, describing what prompted him to first consider challenging Bennet.

“Being a business person, Dodd-Frank has done everything to hold this economy back,” Scott added, referring to financial reform legislation passed in the early years of the Obama administration. “I would have expected Michael Bennet over the last six years to attack that, knowing it’s a difficult problem for small business owners and people trying to buy homes. It has an impact all the way down the food chain.”

Scott isn’t alone. Just this week, radio host Dan Caplis floated his name as a potential Senate candidate and state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, was briefly mentioned as a possible candidate on social media, although he told The Statesman he’s decided against running.

Scott said he isn’t concerned about who else might be running or whether he fits anyone’s preconception of the right Republican to take on Bennet.

“Both sides — they tend to try to carve that perfect candidate or elected official out of a solid piece of granite, and sometimes it doesn’t work out that way,” he said. “As representatives in Colorado, we have to think outside the box. Part of the strategy I’m trying to think about is, can I bring something from outside the box.”

— ernest@coloradostatesman.com