The gloves came off Monday in the Republican primary for the Colorado Senate seat held by Democrat Michael Bennet.

In a verbal dust-up inspired by the GOP candidates’ assessments of the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed late Friday, one Republican accused a rival of falling short as a conservative in a bid to win praise from coastal elites, while his target responded by ripping “petty little politicians” and lumped his critic in the category. 

Gino Campana, a Larimer County developer and former member of the Fort Collins City Council, threw the first punch, blasting construction company owner and first-time candidate Joe O’Dea’s comments expressing support for the infrastructure bill, which were first reported by Colorado Politics.

Campana and the other six Republicans vying for the Senate nomination all said they opposed the bill, with some criticizing the price tag and others deriding its links to a massive, Democratic-sponsored social spending package estimated at $1.85 trillion.

“The government can’t spend its way to prosperity,” Campana said, describing his opposition to the infrastructure bill, adding that middle-class Coloradans are already feeling the pinch of rising inflation.

O’Dea was the lone Bennet challenger who said he would’ve voted for the bill, which won approval in the Senate in August with 19 Republican votes and is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk.

Saying that the bill’s bipartisan architects “played this just right,” O’Dea said the bill “doesn’t explode the national debt” while providing funds – and jobs – to upgrade the country’s infrastructure. 

In a statement to Colorado Politics on Monday, Campana charged his fellow CEO with falling for Democratic talking points on a bill Campana claims will boost the debt and help Democrats pass the larger budget reconciliation measure. Campana also knocked O’Dea for a contribution to Bennet’s 2010 campaign, when the Democrat won his first full term in the Senate by defeating GOP nominee Ken Buck, who has since been elected to the House of Representatives.

“Joe O’Dea can say this bill ‘doesn’t explode the national debt’ all he wants, but any conservative knows this bill adds at least $2,900 per household to the national debt and paves the way to a multi-trillion dollar socialist spending spree,” said Campana.

“We already have a candidate in this race who opposed Ken Buck in 2010 and voted last week to increase the deficit by $256 billion: his name is Senator Michael Bennet. Colorado Republicans don’t want someone who worked against Ken Buck and would spend trillions more as their nominee, they want a solid conservative who will fight against the policies driving up inflation and the price of everything from groceries to gas.

“I will fight every day in Washington to bring federal spending under control and fight for our conservative values, not throw them under the bus to get praised by east coast elites in the press and on the cocktail party circuit.”

A spokesman for the O’Dea campaign fired back with a statement that described O’Dea’s approach as “common sense” and invoked former President Donald Trump’s support for an equivalent-size infrastructure package and history of contributing to candidates of all stripes.

“Joe’s priorities will appeal in a Republican Primary and next November.  Fund law enforcement.  Fund our military.  Fund the border wall.  Fund our nation’s crumbling infrastructure.  Do it by reforming spending, cutting waste, fixing entitlements, taking on the bureaucracy, and balancing the budget,” said O’Dea advisor Quinn Evans in a text message.

“The arc of Joe O’Dea’s candidacy is about building a campaign that unites conservatives with common sense independent voters who are sick of petty politicians whose loyalty to their political party trumps what’s good for the country. 

“Speaking of trump, even Trump supported a trillion in infrastructure spending in 2016 and contributed to Democrats before he turned the tables on them.

“Speaking of petty little politicians, City Councilman Campana name-calling isn’t going to keep anyone up at night. Joe’s not afraid of politicians in the Senate or the city council.”

Trump issued a statement Sunday blasting the Republicans whose votes helped pass the infrastructure bill, saying “they just don’t get it!” and “should be ashamed of themselves.”

Campana and O’Dea jumped in the primary within days of each other in early October, joining a primary field that already included state Rep. Ron Hanks, R-Cañon City, Olympian and former GOP official Eli Bremer, Army veteran and former oil and gas executive Erik Aadland, former congressional candidate Peter Yu and nonprofit executive Juli Henry. Days later, former conservative talker Deborah Flora brought the number of Bennet opponents to eight.

The Senate candidates who make the ballot will face off in a primary election on June 28, 2022.