We in Congressional District 5 have a new congressional representative, and that’s not a statement made too often. Though Americans regularly spout off about how much they hate congress, they seem to love their own representative, reelecting those already in office at an astonishing rate of near 90%. Heck, it’s rare for any elected member to lose a reelection bid, with only five or so, out of 435, losing outright in any given election.

Here in CD-5, we had Joel Hefley for 20 years, and then his successor Doug Lamborn served 18 years before deciding, like Hefley before him, to retire. Back in 2008, Hefley’s former staffer, Jeff Crank, was one of many running to succeed him, only to lose to Lamborn in the primary and then to have me lose to Lamborn in the general election.

During that campaign I got to know Crank a little bit. I suspect he remembers our chats, often at the back of meeting halls, waiting for our cue to argue in front of people. Though we disagreed then (and still do today) on many, many issues, I respected Jeff for his commitment to his belief system, and I rather think he thought the same about me.

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Well, time passes, and after nearly 40 years of Hefley and Lamborn, CD-5 has a new guy. That definitely says something about the way our congressional races are run and the enormous advantage of incumbency. Congrats, Jeff, on getting the seat you have been after for decades. I’m sure with the GOP now in charge of all three branches of government, it will be smooth sailing for you in your first term. Surely, no issues will pop up that might force you to oppose the new president right off the bat?

Well…

A recent story in Colorado Politics may suggest otherwise. Crank will likely be forced to oppose President Donald Trump on an issue vital to CD-5 and to Colorado at large. But that issue is also likely important to a petty and childish president. You may recall after he lost back in 2020 (and he did lose, as I think all but the most crazed MAGA folks recently released from jail will agree), in his last week in office, Trump demonstrated his pettiness and spiteful mindset when he ordered Space Command must move the headquarters from Colorado, a mostly blue state, to Alabama, a state of deepest, darkest red. It was a move to punish Colorado for daring to vote for someone else. As he only had about three days left in office, the Pentagon could slow roll action on that order until Biden quickly reversed it, tucking Space Command into Peterson Space Force Base forever, or so we may have thought.

Frankly, it makes no military sense to abandon billions of dollars of infrastructure investments here in Colorado Springs and to pack up for Huntsville. Sure, Huntsville has a long and proud space tradition, but that is mostly in civilian space efforts and not military operations. And as a guy who used to have a top-secret SCI security clearance, let me assure you the infrastructure investment by Space Command here in Colorado is quite significant.

Crank will be forced to take sides, or rather, if he is as honorable as I believe him to be, he will take the side of common sense and oppose Trump when the petty convicted felon decides it’s again time to punish Colorado and to again order the Space Command folks to Alabama. Frankly, I’m a tad surprised that wasn’t one of his hundreds of presidential orders signed on day one.

Crank is in a tough spot, in that only under a president with no moral compass to guide him would he face such a decision. Every modern president, for example, other than Trump, has either divested himself of his investments or has put such assets into a blind trust. But remember back to 2017, when not only did Trump not divest, he actually encouraged people who wanted to do business with him to stay at the D.C. hotel he then owned and play around or two of golf on a Trump golf course, putting money into Trump’s pocket.

Heck, just three days before he took the oath for a second time, Trump had the audacity and greed to create his own cryptocurrency, to sell to his MAGA minions. He raised roughly $10 billion for him and his family. The only thing missing was a crudely lettered sign on the White House gates saying, “to bribe the president, buy his crypto coin, and he’ll make it worth your time.”

And he sought bribes from Americans while he also ordered cuts to programs vital to many Americans. I will be interested to see how the elderly MAGA folks react when they learn one of his orders will lead to immediate increases in medication costs to Medicare recipients. Remember $35 insulin for senior citizens? Gone.

So Crank will likely begin his first term dealing with pressure from the right (recall a certain other nutty billionaire said he’d pay to have MAGA opponents run against incumbent House and Senate members in primaries if they cross Trump). Crank will be forced to work with — gasp — Democrats in the Colorado delegation to prevent the Space Command move to Alabama. I bet he will do it, too, and we’ll see if Musk, who largely funded Trump’s campaign, to the tune of at least $260 million, seeks out a Crank challenger. It is hard to overestimate Trump’s petty-mindedness and vindictiveness, and that may weigh on Crank’s mind a bit.

Oh, and as an aside, please recall Trump, the most powerful man in the world, took the time to specifically and personally revoke the security detail protecting a national hero, Dr. Anthony Fauci, This in the same week the now-pardoned so-called “shaman” of MAGA (remember the guy wearing horns that stormed the Capitol?) said he planned to immediately go out and buy guns. Other Jan. 6, 2021 criminals have also vowed to buy guns, and I am horrified to think how quickly there may be blood on Trump’s hands, though he has already denied any responsibility for any injury to people he stopped protecting. But I digress…

And as yet another aside (Editor: enough with the asides?) I am wondering how long it will be before Trump, who wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico, notes there is an actual U.S. state named “New Mexico.” I’m hoping he focuses on that for a while, and I’d suggest “Baja Colorado” as a renaming option.

But until something shiny like New Mexico catches Trump’s malevolent eye, he will continue his campaign to punish those he feels wronged him. Based on his flurry of executive orders, most people wronged him. Stand by, Colorado delegation, for the inevitable order to move Space Command. After all, he needs to punish Colorado for disloyalty.

Good luck, Congressman Crank. There are bumpy roads ahead.

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.