Bob Seay, Democratic nominee challenging U.S. Rep. Ken Buck in the 4th Congressional District, knows he has a tough row to hoe.

Seay is attempting to unseat a Republican congressman in a deep-red district. Seay said he knows his success or failure as a candidate will turn on whether mainstream Republicans and independents on the eastern plains of the state are fed up with “an extreme” politician like Buck.

Buck is state chair of the Ted Cruz presidential campaign and this year was rated by the Heritage Foundation as the most conservative member of the House of Representatives — one of the most conservative House chambers in history.

Seay teaches music at Lamar High School. He has worked as an advocate for public education and for people with mental disabilities. He officially accepted the party nomination at the CD4 assembly in Loveland on April 15.

“To win (CD4), you have to get all the Democrats out to vote, first of all. Second, you have to swing moderate Republicans who no longer feel a connection to their party. Then you have to swing independent voters,” Seay said. “I know those people. I work with them. I teach their kids. I know what’s important to them. I’ve lived in the Lamar area for 30 years, so I know these people, and I care about them, and they know that.”

Seay says he has more in common with CD4 voters than does Buck.

“Buck considers Paul Ryan to be a liberal. So I think Ken, and Ted Cruz for that matter, I think their extremism has made moderate Republicans think twice,” Seay said. “I want to solve the problems that (CD4) has. In the county where I live, there’s a one-in-four poverty rate. Those people didn’t choose that. Republicans like to say, ‘Why (expect) government to solve problems.’ Well, because we are a people of government. Governments are how societies work.”

— Ramsey@coloradostatesman.com