As any semi-regular reader of my column already knows, because I’m constantly talking about it, I ran for the U.S. House of Representatives back in 2008. I’ve mentioned how remarkable those roughly nine months or so was in my life, as well as how I actually won that election against Doug Lamborn – in that though he may have gotten many, many more votes than I did and got to go to Congress, I, a widower when I ran, found a wife to whom I’ve been happily married for coming up on 14 years. Winner!

But there were other quite interesting moments and events during my quixotic run. You see, back in 2008, I was an up-close eyewitness to some remarkable goings on over on the Republican side of things, stemming from some alleged shenanigans back in the 2006 campaign.

You see, in 2006, a very distinguished and thoughtful gent named Joel Hefley was retiring from the House after a number of terms. During his time in office, he regularly won reelection by very wide margins and was widely respected, as he remains to this day, by people across the political spectrum, even by those (like me) who sharply differed with him on policy questions.

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When Hefley stepped aside, it created an open seat in a redder-than-red GOP district, which simply meant whoever got the GOP nomination was virtually certain to win in the general election, much like the Dem nominee in CD-2. So, in 2006, a whole bunch of Republicans jumped into the race, including Hefley’s top advisor, Jeff Crank, and retired Air Force Major General Bentley Rayburn. Oh, and a term-limited state senator named Doug Lamborn, plus three others for a total of six candidates all vying for that primary win.

Now as you can imagine, with six folks in the race, no one was going to get more than 50% of the primary vote, and thereby a clear majority. But what really happened was rather remarkable. After a campaign that was considered rather dirty at the time, Lamborn ended up beating Jeff Crank by 892 votes, or 26.97% to 25.28%, which is amazingly close. General Rayburn finished a bit farther back, with 17.36%. And the result was the GOP nominee for Congress was the choice of just a quarter of the GOP voters – not exactly a mandate.

Two years later, when I joined the fray on the Dem side, I knew I’d be running against Lamborn, but as it turned out, both Crank and Rayburn were still stinging from the 2006 mess, and they both ran against Lamborn in the 2008 GOP primary. And as I started showing up at candidate nights and other open events, I found myself in the company of both Crank and Rayburn, both of whom I liked personally. Lamborn, as the incumbent, never appeared at any events (heck, he only agreed to debate me once in the general election, the day before Halloween, when much of the district had already voted by mail). Lamborn knew that, as the incumbent, he had significant advantages, and the only way he might lose is if he made a mistake. So he avoided debates or any other mutual appearances.

And most evenings, I found myself chatting with Crank and Rayburn. Jeff was warm and open to my campaign (I don’t think he felt particularly threatened), and as I was a 25-year Air Force vet, the General (as I called him) and I had much to chat about.

Oh, and one interesting thing about the 2008 GOP primary was that Crank and Rayburn had agreed a poll should be conducted, and whoever lost the poll would drop out and endorse the other. Thus, rather than splitting the anti-Lamborn vote (which was considerable), they’d beat him by using a single opponent. But, not surprisingly, the poll was conducted, and neither could agree on the poll’s legitimacy, and both stayed in the race until primary day, when the anti-Lamborn vote was split between the two, with Lamborn again winning a plurality.

At one of the 2008 campaign events, I proposed privately to Crank and Bentley if I were to somehow sneak in and win by a tiny margin (which, in the Obama year in the key swing state was not entirely unthinkable), that in the following 2010 election we take an unusual position. I suggested – knowing such a Dem win would make CD5 the seat the national GOP would fight hardest to get back – the GOP nominee and I campaign together three days per week. We’d take turns speaking and then would take questions from the audience, together, with dignity and respect.

I wanted to show we could bring civility back and we could demonstrate, by such mutual appearances, we could disagree without demonizing anyone. Both men agreed. I can’t help but think how interesting it would have been to run such a campaign, but alas, Lamborn rolled over me in 2008.

Fast forward to now, and as noted, we see Jeff Crank as one of the many GOPers who have hopped into the fray, with I’m guessing at least five or six more to come. Crank has spent his recent years as a radio host and podcaster, but his eye was never too far off of CD5. Now, I haven’t talked to Jeff in quite a while, but he seems to be the same fellow I knew back in 2008. And unlike GOP state Chair Dave Williams, who is a candidate, Crank does not seem to me to be a nutjob election-denying hypocrite, as I judge Williams to be.

Former state legislator Bob Gardner has also thrown his hat into the ring. Gardner may have an edge, in that – unlike Crank – people in the district have a history of seeing his name on ballots. On the other hand, Crank has a number of listeners to his radio show and podcasts, so he may have a greater level of name recognition. Perhaps it comes out as even.

Oh, and I do remember one campaign event where Gardner and I were both appearing, along with a number of other office seekers. He announced to the crowd, “Colonel Bidlack has never seen a tax increase he didn’t like.” I’m still amused by that. I’ve never even talked to him, nor have I stated approval of any tax increases, but he saw that as a chance to toss out some talking-point word salad, so he did it.

If I were a betting man, I’d guess it will come down to Gardner and Crank. And I won’t be surprised if we see another 25% candidate as the GOP nominee. I have some hopes, in part based on our recent mayoral election, that CD5 is edging toward purple. It’s a long shot, I admit, but I’ll certainly endorse whichever Dem ends up with the nomination. Perhaps Crank will remember our conversation those years ago and will offer to jointly campaign with the Democrat, but I doubt it. I suspect we are at least a few congressional election cycles away from a Dem CD5 winner. But the clock is ticking, and the district is moving.

Stay tuned…

Hal Bidlack is a retired professor of political science and a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who taught more than 17 years at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.