At the Colorado Republican assembly, Darryl Glenn walked onto stage and gave his nomination speech for U.S. Senator the way he has done everything else in his life — with a bang.

With no notes, no teleprompter and no cue cards, Glenn gave a rousing speech that was met with a roaring standing ovation. The speech, combined with his over one year of campaigning leading up to the assembly is what ultimately got him onto the ballot. Glenn knocked eight of his competitors off the ballot completely, including frontrunner state Sen. Tim Neville whose campaign was deemed by many to be all but a sure thing to make the June primary ballot.

This was was no accident. A former U.S. Air Force captain, Glenn said his team knew exactly what was on the line.

“This was all part of the plan,” said Glenn in an interview with The Statesman. “We had been targeting the assembly for a long time. I firmly believe if you put in the work, the results will pay off.”

And work he has.

In the weeks leading up to the GOP convention, Glenn drove across the state in his giant bright-red Hummer, meeting people and campaigning for the post. It is a formula that, so far, has paid off.

As for whether he was surprised at the margin of his victory at the convention, Glenn, who was the first official candidate to challenge Bennet, noted, “From the beginning everyone said, ‘you don’t have a chance” but that just motivated me even more.”

A twice-elected city councilman and twice-elected county commissioner from El Paso County, this is not Glenn’s first rodeo. But it is his first time on the statewide ballot.

And that is the wild card that is Colorado politics — that a relative unknown on the statewide scene can become an overnight sensation and party activists’ choice to represent them in Washington, D.C.

That is just about how Glenn’s life has gone. A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Glenn learned early to stake out his place in life. He also learned that hard work and speaking in an impassioned manner could break down a multitude of barriers — including racial ones.

“People of color need to stand up and state the obvious, they need to stand up for freedom and liberty,” said Glenn who talked about liberty being a core principle that ought to appeal to minorities, especially African-Americans. “The GOP is always asking how they can reach out to minorities and genders, but if you stand up and talk about liberty that takes care of itself.”

That philosophy allowed him at the Republican state assembly to say in front of a predominantly white audience that government entitlements were “enslaving people.”

“I don’t much care for slavery, ladies and gentlemen,” he swiped.

Glenn once again echoed his own campaign mantra, as it relates to the American dream.

“If you put in the work, the results will come,” said Glenn. “It still exists. We don’t need government to provide it for us.”

Glenn has put in the work himself. As a former city council member and county commissioner of one of the most populous counties in Colorado (second only to Denver), Glenn has balanced budgets and navigated the functions of local government.

Having served in the Air Force for 21 years, Glenn also knows his way around the federal government. According to political blog ColoradoPols, he implemented large-scale programs all the while saving taxpayers millions of dollars. He led a $19 million “command and control enhancement program” for the Air Force that implemented performance standards while saving $400,000. He served as program manager for a base realignment and closure plan. And, he supervised 35 different communication systems valued at $1 billion, developing support plans that saved $20 million while providing a 40 percent increase in war-fighting capability.

Now, with his sights set on statewide office, Glenn believes elected officials need to put in the work necessary to repeal the Affordable Care Act and the Iran nuclear deal. The latter, he says, creates ridiculous rules of engagement for our troops when the country needs to be able to unleash the full power of the American military. Glenn also aims to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from “strangling” Colorado.

He said that on all of these issues, Bennet is on the wrong side. And Bennet’s poll numbers — albeit old ones — seemed to show a degree of voter disapproval. A late 2015 Quinnipiac Poll revealed that 41 percent of voters believe Bennet should not be re-elected. This places Bennet in a more precarious position than former Sen. Mark Udall at the same point in his re-election bid in 2014. But, of course, that doesn’t take into consideration the different dynamic created by the 2016 presidential race and whose coattails will be available to either ride on or run away from.

As for whether he might be too conservative on these issues to ultimately beat Bennet, Glenn replied, “People said that about Ronald Reagan.”

Reagan, too, won over people with impassioned speeches.

Within 24 hours of his convention victory, Glenn said his fundraising “blew up over night.” As of Monday morning, he also said he had 500 emails in his inbox from people wanting to help.

As for his U.S. Senate campaign, he is quick to disagree with any detractors who suggest that Glenn’s convention floor speech will translate to lost votes at the ballot box.

“My campaign strategy is not changing one bit. We’re going to continue talking to people,” said Glenn, who said he looks forward to more debates.

“Michael Bennet does not want to stand next to an Air Force veteran with a 13-year record, who has actually done something in government and happens to have a tan,” said Glenn. “This time, the Democrats are not going to be able to call us racist, sexist, homophobes.”

But will Glenn ever even be given the chance to run directly against Bennet? Whether the high-energy Glenn’s unabashed conservative views will translate into a win in the June primary has yet to be determined. But in a presidential year where voter turnout is up and anti-establishment sentiment is running high, pundits on both sides must acquiesce we are living in “anything can happen political times.”

— jennifer@coloradostatesman.com