The two Republicans vying for Colorado’s U.S. Senate seat squared off at a country music bar on May 21 in their only scheduled debate, held just over two weeks before ballots go into the mail ahead of next month’s primary election.

Elbows and sparks flew during the 50-minute debate between state Rep. Ron Hanks and business owner Joe O’Dea, leaving no doubt that voters face a clear choice in the June 28 Republican primary to pick the party’s nominee to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who is seeking a third full term.

Although both stated they would support their rival if he wins the primary, Hanks and O’Dea clashed in style and substance on topics ranging from abortion policy and the military’s stance toward Russia to what constitutes a real conservative and the best approach to winning over unaffiliated voters.

The 50-minute verbal brawl capped an afternoon slate of four top-tier Republican primary debates at the Grizzly Rose, a concert venue and nightclub on the northern edge of Denver near the intersection of Interstates 25 and 70. Billed as the “Republican Rumble,” the series of match-ups was organized by the Republican Women of Weld, Adams County Republican Women and Greeley Republican Women and sponsored by Wells Ranch, the Lincoln Club of Colorado, 710 KNUS and Roche Constructors, Inc.

Your columnist was the news media representative on the panel of moderators for the Senate debate, along with talk radio host and former 18th Judicial District attorney George Brauchler, the 2018 GOP nominee for attorney general, and one-time Republican strategist and communications guru Kelly Maher, who retired from politics to raise goats but still contributes political analysis to 9News. Veteran public affairs pro Cinamon Watson, the fourth moderator, helped prepare questions for the Senate debate but didn’t grill the candidates, since each moderator sat out one debate.

Before the main event, the first three contests featured Colorado Secretary of State candidates Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters and business consultant Mike O’Donnell; 8th Congressional District hopefuls Thornton Mayor Jan Kulmann, Army veteran Tyler Allcorn and state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer; and gubernatorial contenders Greg Lopez, a former mayor of Parker who ran for the same office four years ago, and CU Regent Heidi Ganahl. Three other Republicans for statewide office who aren’t facing primaries spoke between the debates: metro area prosecutor John Kellner, a candidate for attorney general; former state Rep. Lang Sias, running for state treasurer; and Dan Maloit, the presumptive at-large nominee for the State Board of Education.

While the earlier match-ups were illuminating and had their moments, the Senate candidates threw down early and often, drawing the clearest distinctions on what could be the most consequential choice faced by Colorado’s GOP primary voters between the Republicans on stage.

Here are five takeaways from the face-off between Hanks and O’Dea.

The two candidates are a study in contrasts

Both entered the race last fall within a few days of each other – at the outset of the year’s final fundraising quarter – but Hanks and O’Dea are as different as the paths they took to the ballot. Of the eight Republicans who ran for the chance to challenge Bennet, O’Dea was the only one to petition onto the ballot, and Hanks was the only one to emerge with enough delegate support from the state GOP assembly in April.

The more pugnacious Hanks, a 32-year military veteran who made an unsuccessful run for Congress in Northern California a decade ago, and the more measured O’Dea, the wealthy owner of a construction company he founded while in college, disagree about what Colorado voters are seeking as an alternative to Bennet and the incumbent’s alignment with the Biden administration.

“I think the Republican Party has lost its way and is not firm enough in its convictions,” Hanks said. “We have to stand firm. There is a division in the party as to what we are supposed to do to get unaffiliated voters. I’m of the opposite school of the establishment. I firmly believe, if we have convictions and we tell people our beliefs and convince them that we are going to stand by them, they are going to come back to the party.”

Calling the election “a referendum on Joe Biden’s America,” O’Dea said that taking the eye off that target risks another loss by Colorado Republicans.

“Rep. Hanks is a single-issue candidate, he is running to blow up voting machines,” he added, referring to Hanks doing exactly that in his first campaign video. “I’m running to take the reckless spending and policies that Democrats have brought on us –  runaway inflation, $4 gas and American decline.”

Their policies on abortion barely overlap

As if primary voters didn’t have enough ways to distinguish the two candidates, the strong possibility the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision in June casts a spotlight on their divergent approaches to one of the most enduringly divisive issues in American politics.

O’Dea, who points out he was adopted, supports Roe and has would vote to codify its provisions in law, though he also insists the Colorado legislation signed into law this year guaranteeing a right to an abortion goes too far. He said he opposes government funding for abortion, supports parental notification requirements and supports banning “late term abortion,” though he didn’t specify where he would draw the line.

“I do think the decision should be left up to the woman and her doctor early on in the pregnancy and in cases of rape, incest, or medical reasons,” he said. “I don’t support a total ban. The country is not 100% pro-life, the country is not 100% pro-choice. We need balance and we need to move forward.”

Hanks, on the other hand, said he believes life begins at conception and opposes abortion at any stage. He also noted he was among the leaders of the House GOP’s fight against the abortion bill passed this session by statehouse Democrats. “Life is life, everybody deserves a birthday,” he said. “That’s what we said on the floor and, by God, we mean it, and it is important.”

They differ sharply about who won the 2020 election

Hanks and O’Dea stand at the poles of Colorado’s GOP, sometimes labelled the party’s grassroots and its establishment. Hanks is firmly planted in the populist corner alongside a majority of fellow Republicans who side with former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, while O’Dea, who maintains President Joe Biden won the last election, occupies the party’s more traditional wing.

Noting that he was elected to the legislature in 2020, Hanks added: “That’s the election that Donald Trump won. I fully expected that he would be in D.C. draining the swamp while we’re fighting for liberty here in Colorado. It has worked out differently. I’ve been fighting for election integrity ever since. As I run for U.S. Senate now, the focus shifts to national security and the disasters that Joe Biden has brought upon this country.”

O’Dea argued that relitigating the last election is a distraction.

“Mr. Hanks is a single-issue candidate, he’s focused on what happened in the past,” O’Dea said. “I’m not going to focus on that. I’ve got one thing in mind, and that’s retiring Michael Bennett in November.”

Their approach to Vladimir Putin couldn’t be more different

Asked whether they support recent moves by Finland and Sweden to join NATO, the two candidates expressed opposing views.

“Now is not the time to be poking the bear,” said Hanks, who noted that his military intelligence service included working with Russians on a treaty involving the two country’s nuclear weapons. “I’m not saying Putin’s gonna go nuclear, but he can do us great damage. And right now is not the time for Finland and Sweden to be threatening or giving Putin the perception that his western border is being threatened or moved in on by NATO.”

Calling the notion of expanding NATO before the Ukraine war is resolved “reckless,” Hanks added, “The idea that we’re going to play chicken with a nuclear superpower is a real bad idea.”

Said O’Dea: “We need to back the Ukrainians. I don’t know why we’re afraid of this punk Putin. He’s got a nuclear weapon; so do we. So we need to not back down.” Adding the he doesn’t support American “boots on the ground,” O’Dea said, referring to the Russian president, “But by God, we gotta quit letting him push us around.”

Both agree that beating Bennet is paramount

Not only did Hanks and O’Dea agree in the first few minutes of the debate that they will support whoever wins the primary, they let the audience know they intend to keep the pressure on the Democratic incumbent in a what could be the most favorable environment for Republicans in Colroado for more than a decade.

“This election is about national security because of the dire situation that Joe Biden has put us in, and Michael Bennet has enabled that,” Hanks said. “He is Joe Biden’s best and greatest enabler.”

“Sometimes elections are complicated,” said O’Dea. “This one is not for voters – they’re angry about inflation. And, as your nominee, I’m going to chase Michael Bennet all over this state prosecuting the case.”