Jeff Crank is a mainstay of the political right, a linchpin in the conservative infrastructure of his hometown of choice – unflinchingly Republican Colorado Springs. Yet, his origins are 45 miles down the road in undeniably Democratic Pueblo, where he was born and raised. And to hear Crank, it is precisely Pueblo’s political tilt that played a big role in propelling him rightward as he developed his own world view. He explains how that happened in today’s Q&A – but first, a refresher on this onetime, would-be congressman who arguably holds more political sway over his home turf than a lot of politicians ever do in Congress.

Crank spent years working as point man on the staff of 5th Congressional District Republican former U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley. He eventually ran for the office himself – twice, almost winning once – after Hefley retired. He served in civic life, for the Springs’ Chamber of Commerce, and wound up leading Colorado efforts for pro-free market political behemoth Americans for Prosperity. (He was also AFP’s national COO for a time.)

Along the way, he made plenty of friends, allies and probably a few adversaries, all the while establishing himself as a fixture of Colorado conservatism. And as a media personality; you can catch him on the radio. More on that below.

He is now president of Aegis Strategic, LLC, a political consulting firm specializing in campaign research, candidate identification and training. And, as he’ll make clear to you – it comes up in almost every conversation – politics is hardly his only love. He loves his family. Hunting, too, among other things.

Colorado Politics: As a political consultant, you have an influential – if off-stage – presence in a lot of projects on the center-right. You also have a very public persona on the Colorado Springs airwaves on KVOR-AM radio’s Jeff Crank Show as a talk-radio jock. How has talk radio evolved in Colorado, and what’s its future? Has it peaked, at least, on the political right as digital media have overtaken the political sphere?

Jeff Crank: Talk radio has changed in so many ways over the last decade that I have been doing the show. Certainly, digital media have changed the medium, and talk radio has plenty of challenges and opportunities ahead of it.  Because of the ease of podcasting for users, gone are the days when “local” talk radio was truly local.  We now have listeners around the country and, in fact, the world.  Obviously, technology like iHeart Radio, Pandora and Sirius provide for increased competition in the radio market – but greater opportunity for hosts to truly do something different in their broadcasts and find that niche.  A great opportunity for talk radio continues to be the decreasing trust that citizens have in the mainstream media.  As major outlets like CNN, the New York Times and CBS News continue to get story after story wrong – in their rush to drive the opinion narrative – more people turn to local sources, particularly in talk radio, that they trust to deliver facts.  Even though they understand that talk show hosts have their own slant, they understand that those hosts can still deliver factual information.

CP: You worked for years for U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley of Colorado Springs and had extended exposure – up close – to the proverbial sausage-making process of lawmaking inside the Beltway. It’s a process that turns many people off of politics. What made you want to jump in even deeper and run for that post yourself – rather than simply run for the hills?

Crank: I’ll claim temporary insanity.  Actually, my work on staff in Congress was one of the great experiences of my professional life.  While so many decry the dishonesty of politics, I was fortunate enough to work for one of the truly good and virtuous men in Congress.  I’m certain that if I’d worked for someone who was dishonest, my desire to continue to be part of the process would have been diminished.  While on staff, I saw the great things that you could help accomplish in Congress if you had freedom and liberty as your guiding principles.  This drove me to want to stay engaged and do all I can to make a difference for my children and future generations.  Perhaps I should have run for the hills.  I just didn’t know any better at the time.

Jeff Crank

CP: You twice challenged the 5th’s current incumbent, Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, in a bid to wrest the party’s nomination from him. One of those times you came within a percentage point of succeeding. Yet, an irony of those races and subsequent challenges to Lamborn by other candidates is that most of the challengers were pretty conservative, as is Lamborn himself. You certainly reside squarely on the right – unrelentingly pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, anti-tax hike. What do you believe is the point in challenging an officeholder like Lamborn? Have you buried the hatchet with him?

Crank: I have certainly buried the hatchet with Congressman Lamborn.  I’ve had him on my show many times, and we have worked together on a few projects since then.  I even endorsed him in a primary a few years later.   Both of my campaigns were experiences I would never trade – and, ironically, while I certainly wanted to win, I wouldn’t really trade the outcome at this point in my life.  As a candidate, you face so many challenges – money, policy, personality, character and ethics.  I believe those races, and how I carried myself in those races, is what shaped me both personally and professionally.  During those campaigns I was confronted several times with doing the right thing or veering off and sacrificing either my principles or my ethics.  Looking back on them, these were opportunities that I believe God provided to me to help shape me and, more importantly, opportunities to teach my children (who were young at the time) that you ALWAYS must do the right thing – and that in the end, you are rewarded for it.  What I am today both personally and professionally was forged by the decisions I was faced with in both of those campaigns.  The circumstances I found myself in during those days were really a great gift to me and to my family.  There were six Republican candidates in my 2006 race and only a few of those men still have any political voice at all.  I’m blessed to be one of them.  Frankly, I’m living the dream.

CP: Next year, yet another crop of candidates is going to challenge Lamborn for the GOP nomination: state Sen. Owen Hill, R-Colorado Springs; El Paso County Commissioner and 2016 Republican U.S. Senate nominee Darryl Glenn; Colorado Springs City Councilman Tom Strand, and onetime Texas judge and former missionary Bill Rhea. Does any of them have a prayer? If so, who and why?

Crank: I do think it is very difficult to beat an incumbent congressman in a three- , four- or five-way race. My 2008 race proved that.  I think incumbents have such a name-ID advantage that it is so hard to overcome in more than a head-to-head matchup.  In addition, once there are three or more candidates, races get messier.  In that situation, you’re never just fighting one opponent. You’re fighting to your left when a sucker-punch comes in from the right. However, this year could be a bit of a different year. I think Republicans are very frustrated with the inability of Congress to get much done. With the failure to repeal Obamacare and Congress not getting transformational change through Congress, the natives are restless, so to say.  If an incumbent can lose, this can be the year, but it would take many things falling into place and the stars aligning.

CP: You’re barely 50 and look years younger – sincere compliment – and arguably have much of your productive life still ahead. Are you going to run for office again?

Crank: 50 doesn’t seem so old, does it?  I’m just honored to still be in the game and helping to make a difference.  While I certainly enjoyed being a candidate, I also enjoy not being one.  It is very liberating to be able to take positions out of principle and not worry about how it may be spun or misused in a future campaign.  I’ve been fortunate to be involved in so many fun and important battles over the last 10 years – whether it was holding Republican county commissioners accountable for sneaking increased term limits past the voters or the recent battle and victory stopping a dangerous needle giveaway to heroin addicts – I’m in it for the fight to make our community, state and country a better place.  As long as I’m productive in that, I’m content.  I certainly would not say that I would never run for office.  If I get mad enough, I might just do it – but I’m not going to plan a path toward elective office.  Right now I’m enjoying making a difference and enjoying my wife and children and spending time hunting and fishing with them.  I’m content.  There is still plenty to accomplish and one of my life-long goals is to spell Njegomir without having to look it up first.

CP: You grew up in Pueblo – in some respects, the political antithesis of Colorado Springs. What nudged you to the right in such a Democratic-leaning town? More generally, how did you come by your politics?

Crank: Growing up in a hard-scrabble, gritty hard-working town like Pueblo was the reason I came to believe in freedom and liberty and the necessity for limited government power.  I saw how certain political families controlled Pueblo and thereby controlled peoples lives.  I grew up in the ’80s, and Ronald Reagan had such a powerful influence on me.  After the gas lines and 20-percent interest rates of the Jimmy Carter years, Reagan brought a healthy skepticism of government and the solutions that it offered.  My father grew up as a Democrat but, I think, through the Reagan years he became a Republican.  I guess I learned early on that I didn’t just want for my life what government wanted to give me.  I wanted to have what I wanted – and that was more than what the average person in Pueblo had.  The only way to get there was to get government out of my way.

CP: Who is the most compelling politician in Colorado today? Who is the most formidable Democrat?

Crank: I’d say (18th Judicial District Attorney and state attorney general candidate) George Brauchler is the most compelling politician in Colorado today.  So many politicians are phony with the perfect hair and “on cue” smile.  George is genuine.  When you talk with George, he has the ability to connect with people in a way that few elected officials or politicians do.  Most formidable Democrat is (senior U.S. Sen.) Michael Bennet.  He’s somehow convinced Coloradans that he’s a moderate when he is nothing of the sort and he’s worked his way into Senate Democrat leadership in a way that he can continue to raise all the money he needs to continue to convince Coloradans that, despite his accent and Washington, D.C., friends, he’s one of us.