Within hours of Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s surprise announcement Friday morning that he won’t seek reelection in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, more than a dozen potential GOP candidates emerged for the reliably Republican seat.

At the same time, Democrats said they’re now eyeing the open El Paso County-based district, which has trended in their party’s direction in recent years and could be competitive, depending on the results of the Republican primary.

Among the Republicans who have expressed interest in running in the June 25 primary are current and former state lawmakers, county commissioners, statewide elected officials, and state and county GOP officers. There’s also a talk radio host who lost two primaries to Lamborn, a former Olympian who lost a campaign for the U.S. Senate and a former top Lamborn staffer.

It’ll be a sprint to the primary, with precinct caucuses set for March 7. Candidates who plan to petition into the primary can begin gathering signatures on Jan. 16 and must turn in petitions by March 19.

The nine-term congressman stunned even close political associates when he revealed his decision on Richard Randall’s show on KVOR-AM.

“Well, I’m not getting any younger,” said the 69-year-old Lamborn. “I want to spend time with my children, grandchildren, with my wife. I want to look for opportunities to do good. I’m going to finish out strong.”

Many of his fellow Republicans immediately saw another opportunity.

In office since 2007, Lamborn is the second-longest serving member of Colorado’s congressional delegation, behind only Democrat Diana DeGette, who has represented the Denver-based 1st Congressional District since 1997.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a safe Republican seat,” Colorado GOP chairman Dave Williams told Colorado Politics.

The former three-term Colorado Springs legislator, who lost a primary challenge to Lamborn two years ago, said the news prompted him to consider another run for the seat.

“Needless to say, I’ll be making a decision very soon on my future,” Willams said in a text message. “I’ll need to call President Trump soon.”

Williams said he isn’t inclined to step down from the party position if he runs, noting that there’s nothing in state GOP bylaws that would require him to do so.

He added that he didn’t want to leave the Republican Party in the lurch amid a number of ongoing projects Williams is overseeing, including a proposal for the state GOP to endorse Trump later this month, ahead of Colorado’s March 5 presidential primary.

Williams said that regardless of his decision, he anticipates a crowded primary.

“Far as I’m concerned, the more the merrier,” he said.

He’ll likely get his wish.

Former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams – no relation to the state party chairman – told Colorado Politics that he’s weighing his options.

In an emailed statement, Williams praised Lamborn’s tenure in office and noted that he nominated Lamborn when he first ran for Congress.

“Folks have reached out and asked me to run, and I am pondering it,” said the former at-large Colorado Springs city councilman, who lost a run for mayor last year, in a text message.

State Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, R-Monument, said he’s giving it some thought.

“Talking to family and advisers,” Lundeen said in a text message. “Serving Coloradans is important to me, as is my family.”

State Sen. Bob Gardner, R-Colorado Springs, delivered a similar message.

“I’m being inundated with texts, calls and emails from people in our community, state, and nationally to consider this,” said the veteran state lawmaker. “I’m doing that.”

Radio host Jeff Crank, one of the Republicans who finished behind Lamborn in 2006 in a six-way primary for the seat, heaped praise on the incumbent in an emailed statement.

“Over the next eight to 10 days, I will decide about whether I will seek the Republican nomination to represent the 5th Congressional District in Congress,” said Crank, who ran against Lamborn a second time in 2008.

Saying that he was “saddened to see my home state’s slide towards big government,” Crank added, “(O)ur nation must elect people who are committed to standing up for conservative principles of limited government and the protection of our God-given Constitutional rights. We must have leaders who will stand up and stop the destructive agenda of the Biden administration.”

Former Olympian Eli Bremer – a Colorado Springs business owner, former El Paso County GOP chairman and unsuccessful 2022 U.S. Senate candidate – said in a statement that Lamborn’s announcement took him by surprise, adding that he had planned to support the incumbent’s reelection this year.

“Congressman Lamborn has represented our district well and with distinction and will be missed,” Bremer said. “At this point, I am considering all options and talking with family and my previous supporters to consider the possibility.”

Bremer’s father, former El Paso County Commissioner Duncan Bremer, was one of the five Republicans who lost the 2006 primary to Lamborn the last time the 5th CD seat was open, following the retirement of 10-term U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley.

Another former county GOP officer, former vice chairman Karl Schneider, said Friday that he has formed an exploratory committee to determine whether to run for the seat.

“We are at a crossroads in our party,” the defense industry cybersecurity executive and Army Special Forces veteran said in a text message.

“More than likely already crossed onto and down a path to oblivion/insignificance,” he added, citing the county party’s support for Trump and the Trump supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “Those who support and advocate the violent overthrow of our Republic should have no place in a free democratic society.”

Former El Paso County Commissioner Mark Waller, an attorney and former state lawmaker, told Colorado Politics he’s received encouragement to run but will only consider it if the field doesn’t measure up.

“If it’s somebody I think would do well and represent the district well, I would not run, but if it’s the toxic people in our party and the also-rans, absolutely I would consider it, 100%,” Waller said. “This district or any district – it doesn’t need Mark Waller, it needs somebody that’s reasonable and respectful and somebody that’s going to go get something done. I certainly think I’m that guy, but if there are other people qualified to do that – a Jeff Crank, a Bob Gardner – I don’t need to do this.”

Lamborn’s former communications director Cassandra Sebastian, the community affairs and research supervisor for the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, said she planned to decide soon whether to run for the seat.

Other potential candidates include El Paso County Commissioners Stan VanderWerf and Longinos Gonzalez, Assistant House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, R-Colorado Springs, and former state Reps. Tim Geitner, R-Colorado Springs, and Dan Nordberg, R-Colorado Springs, who worked at the U.S. Small Business Administration during the Trump administration.

A spokeswoman for the National Republican Congressional Committee thanked Lamborn and expressed confidence the seat will remain in GOP hands.

“We are grateful for Congressman Doug Lamborn’s years of service to Colorado and to the American people. Republicans will hold this seat in 2024,” said NRCC spokeswoman Delanie Bomar in an email.

Not so fast, suggested Colorado pollster Andrew Baumann of the national Democratic firm Global Strategy Group.

“Don’t sleep on CO-05 as an opportunity for Ds – especially if (Dave) Williams runs,” Baumann tweeted.

“CO-05 voted for Trump by 10 BUT it has been moving left fast. And recent polling I’ve done there shows that the MAGA brand the GOP position on abortion have become massive drags on the party.”

Colorado Democratic Party chair Shad Murib told Colorado Politics that the party is taking a fresh look at the seat following Lamborn’s announcement.

“Doug Lamborn was an architect of the MAGA far-right movement we’re seeing breed division in this country, and it’s good for Colorado that he’s retiring,” Murib said in a statement. “Not only was he a disappointment to Colorado Springs and El Paso County, but it’s clear he was a disappointment to the Republican Party as a whole. We look forward to continuing the fight to elect someone who puts El Paso County first.”

Five Democrats have already filed paperwork to run in the district, along with several unaffiliated and third-party candidates. Democratic sources told Colorado Politics that additional candidates could announce in coming weeks.

Not every Republican politician in the district was mulling a bid on Friday.

Former Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, a former two-term state attorney general, pointed to a line in his recently published memoir, “All This I Saw, and Part of It I Was,” when asked if he was thinking about running.

As he exited the mayor’s office, Suthers wrote: “My career in elective politics was over. I’ve seen way too many aging people, including politicians, hang on too long, to the detriment of those they serve. I do not want to be one of them.”