Representative wins 44 percent of county preference vote in four-way race
Cory Gardner took a major step toward the Republican congressional nomination at Tuesday's precinct caucuses, racking up solid wins in preference polls in Larimer and Weld counties.
Gardner, a state representative from Yuma, won 44 percent of the Larimer County preference vote in a four-way race, with former Fort Collins City Council member Diggs Brown second with 30 percent. In Weld County, Gardner won 63 percent of the preference vote with Brown second at 17.6 percent.
"I'm very excited. We've got a tremendous amount of grass-roots support in Larimer County, in Weld County and across the district, and tonight's results show the strength in the grass roots that we have," he said.
Four Republicans are seeking their party's nomination to challenge Rep. Betsy Markey, the first Democrat in 36 years elected to represent the 4th Congressional District. National Republicans have made retaking the seat a top priority and have swung their support behind Gardner.
The preference polls were conducted before precinct caucuses selected delegates to county, district and state assemblies. Though the polls are nonbinding, they are an indicator of the candidates' strengths among the party's most active voters.
Larimer and Weld, the two most populous counties in the 18-county 4th Congressional District, were the only ones conducting congressional preference polls Tuesday. Those two counties account for about two-thirds of the delegates to the district assembly.
Gardner is expected to perform well in the district's rural counties because he's the only Republican candidate from that area.
With his strong effort in Weld and Larimer county preference polls, Gardner may be in position to garner enough support at the district convention in May to keep any other candidate from getting on the Aug. 10 primary ballot.Read the rest of the Bob Moore article at http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100317/NEWS01/3170330
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