The congressman from the 5th District is Doug Lamborn, a Republican first elected in 2006. The son of a prison guard, Lamborn was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. He studied journalism at the University of Kansas and ultimately earned a law degree. He said he voted in 1976 for Jimmy Carter, but was then drawn to the Republican politics of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. In 1987, Lamborn moved his family to Colorado Springs, where he practiced business and real estate law and became an avid mountain climber. In 1994, he won the first of two terms in the Colorado House and, in 1998, was appointed to a vacant state Senate seat. Lamborn ran unopposed in the next election and later served as state Senate president pro tem. During 12 years in the legislature, Lamborn compiled a reliably conservative record on social and fiscal issues. He opposed abortion rights, sponsoring bills to limit late-term abortions, and advocated tax cuts, including a reduction in state income taxes. He backed legislation that would have ended some benefits to illegal immigrants and increased penalties for illegal immigrant smugglers. Read More

The congressman from the 5th District is Doug Lamborn, a Republican first elected in 2006. The son of a prison guard, Lamborn was born in Leavenworth, Kansas. He studied journalism at the University of Kansas and ultimately earned a law degree. He said he voted in 1976 for Jimmy Carter, but was then drawn to the Republican politics of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. In 1987, Lamborn moved his family to Colorado Springs, where he practiced business and real estate law and became an avid mountain climber. In 1994, he won the first of two terms in the Colorado House and, in 1998, was appointed to a vacant state Senate seat. Lamborn ran unopposed in the next election and later served as state Senate president pro tem. During 12 years in the legislature, Lamborn compiled a reliably conservative record on social and fiscal issues. He opposed abortion rights, sponsoring bills to limit late-term abortions, and advocated tax cuts, including a reduction in state income taxes. He backed legislation that would have ended some benefits to illegal immigrants and increased penalties for illegal immigrant smugglers.

When Republican U.S. Rep. Joel Hefley retired, Lamborn ran for his seat. In the primary, Hefley endorsed Jeff Crank, his former aide. Lamborn had the backing of the anti-tax Club for Growth and the Colorado Christian Coalition. At the May GOP party convention, Crank won the delegate vote 46%-40%, but Lamborn had more than the minimum 30% needed to secure a place on the primary ballot. Lamborn emphasized his conservative voting record and vowed never to raise taxes. The state Christian Coalition sent a mailer suggesting Crank backed the “radical homosexual lobby.” In the August primary, Crank won five of the district’s six counties and appeared headed to victory. But once absentee ballots were counted, the results flipped and Lamborn won by 892 votes, defeating Crank 27%-25%.

In the general election, Lamborn faced Democrat Jay Fawcett, an Air Force Academy graduate who won a Bronze star during the Persian Gulf War. In most years, the Democratic nominee would not have drawn a second look; no Democrat had won the seat since it was created in 1972. But the bruising Republican primary and a tough national environment for Republicans made for an unusually competitive general election. Hefley accused Lamborn of running a “sleazy” primary campaign and refused to endorse him. Fawcett sought to take advantage of the Republican discord, purchasing a newspaper ad featuring the names and photos of three dozen prominent local Republicans who also declined to endorse Lamborn. He tried to appeal to Republicans and unaffiliated voters by emphasizing his military experience, a strong selling point in the military-oriented district. In October, polls showed a dead heat, an alarming result for a district that national Republicans were unaccustomed to worrying about. But on Election Day, voters overcame lingering animosity toward Lamborn and gave him a 60%-40% victory.

In the House, Lamborn established a record as one of his party’s most conservative members. He was an original member of the Tea Party Caucus and endorsed former Rep. Tom Tancredo, known for his incendiary opposition to immigration, for Colorado governor in 2010. He tried, but lost overwhelmingly, to pass amendments to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, two government-sponsored entities that conservatives consider too liberal. He also sponsored a bill to bar federal funds to schools that provide access to emergency contraception services. In 2009, he led Colorado’s House delegation in adding earmarks to spending bills, particularly military-related projects, according to the watchdog group Citizens Against Government Waste. On defense issues, Lamborn led an effort to gather support for Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a founder of the terrorist group Hamas who converted to Christianity and became an anti-Hamas informer. He had been threatened with deportation from the United States but was granted political asylum in 2010.

In June 2011, Lamborn received criticism back home for pushing to revoke funding of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. Lamborn had signed onto a letter with eight other members of Congress asking to stop funding Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy grants, which would include money for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. A group of Jefferson County Republicans wrote to Lamborn over the move and asked him to visit the lab. Lamborn later explained to The Denver Post that he did not know that the renewable energy funds he was targeting actually included money for the Golden-based lab. “I personally am not seeking any reduction [of] jobs at NREL,” he told the paper. “The bigger issue is, what is the government’s role in renewable energy? There are some pitfalls we need to avoid.”

Lamborn walked into an even bigger morass while giving an interview with a Denver radio station in late July 2011. Discussing President Barack Obama’s budget policies, Lamborn said, “I don’t even want to have to be associated with [Obama]. It’s like touching a tar baby.” The statement was widely seen as racially inflammatory and brought condemnation from the NAACP and other African-American civil rights groups. Activists with the liberal group MoveOn.org held protests inside Lamborn’s district office over the comment. Lamborn quickly apologized to President Obama and later apologized to a group of black leaders at a Baptist church in Fountain, Colo.

Holding out for more substantial budget cuts, Lamborn voted against House Speaker John Boehner’s compromise bill to raise the debt ceiling in August 2011. In December of the same year, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. put out a report slamming House members for securing earmarks. In particular, she called out Republicans who secured earmarks despite signing a self-imposed earmark ban. When Lamborn’s name appeared in the review, he called McCaskill’s report a “joke” and questioned her definition of an earmark.

In January 2012, Lamborn decided to boycott President Obama’s State of the Union address. In a statement to constituents, Lamborn said he “believes the President is in full campaign mode and will use the address as an opportunity to bash his political opponents.”

Back home, lingering resentment over the 2006 primary led to a rematch with Crank in 2008. The challenger attacked Lamborn’s job performance. This time, Lamborn won all of the counties except Lake, and won the district overall with 44% to 30% for Crank. He won easily in November against token Democratic opposition. In 2010, he trounced Democrat Kevin Bradley with nearly 66%. Lamborn has drawn a Republican challenger for the June 2012 primary: Robert Blaha, a businessman from Colorado Springs. It’s a bit surprising because of Lamborn’s conservative record and stated admiration for the tea party.