\u201cWe hoped to have Cory Gardner reelected and we hoped to win one or two seats \u2014 pick up a net gain of one or two \u2014 in the state Senate,\u201d he said in an interview with The Colorado Sun on Thursday, his first since Election Day. \u201cIn that respect, I think it was disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buck, who in 2019 was elected Colorado Republican Party, is now facing pressure from within his party after another disappointing election cycle. But, contrary to a report that he won\u2019t seek another two-year term at the GOP\u2019s helm, Buck says he hasn\u2019t made up his mind on whether to run for reelection to his leadership post.<\/p>\n
The Sun spoke with Buck about the Colorado Republican Party\u2019s future, his future and what happened in the 2020 election:<\/a><\/p>\n The following interview was edited for clarity and length.<\/em><\/p>\n The Colorado Sun: You were really bullish heading into 2020 about Cory Gardner and Donald Trump\u2019s chances in Colorado. I\u2019m curious why you think they didn\u2019t fare better.<\/p>\n Ken Buck: I think everybody understands what happened. We got a pandemic and the economy went south and the president went from having the best possible issue to run on \u2014 a strong economy that he could clearly take credit for \u2014 and then the pandemic hit and took that issue away from him. And so rather than having a presidential incumbent running in 40 out of 50 states, we had a presidential incumbent who had to figure out the number of states he needed to win. At some point in the fall, Colorado dropped off that list. After that decision was made, it left Cory Gardner and others in Colorado hanging a bit.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t blame the president at all. He has to run a campaign and has to figure out a way to win. But the reality is that they decided to focus less on Colorado and more on Arizona and Florida and Pennsylvania and some other states.<\/p>\n Sun: Do you think Cory Gardner was a casualty of the top of the ticket, then?<\/p>\n Buck: Yeah, I do. I think Cory could have made up four or five points with President Trump if President Trump had run where he had the last time around \u2014 where he lost by 4.5 points (in Colorado) \u2014 I think Cory Gardner would have been in good shape. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s possible to make up 10, 12 points in a state like Colorado. I think that Cory is a victim of circumstance. He will be back. He just got caught in a bad situation.<\/p>\n Sun: Broadly, how do you think Colorado Republicans did in the 2020 election?<\/p>\n Buck: We hoped to have Cory Gardner reelected and we hoped to win one or two seats \u2014 pick up a net gain of one or two \u2014 in the state Senate. In that respect, I think it was disappointing. In the respect that we had a lot of people who volunteered and spent a lot of time and others who spent a lot of money, I\u2019m encouraged for the future of the Republican Party.<\/p>\n Sun: Talk to me about why you\u2019re encouraged. What good signs do you see for the future of the Republican Party in Colorado?<\/p>\n Buck: Any time you have a president that you can distinguish your positions from, it is beneficial. I think President Trump was unfairly tagged with the problems regarding coronavirus. Largely this is an issue that has been controlled by governors around the country. I think that blaming President Trump for the response or lack of response is unfair. Now the Democrats have the opportunity to govern and we will have the opportunity to talk about how Republican policies would be better.<\/p>\n Sun: We haven\u2019t heard from you or other Republicans in Colorado\u2019s congressional delegation talk about the outcome of the presidential race in terms of whether you accept that President-elect Joe Biden actually won the election. Do you think there\u2019s still a question or do you think it has been decided that Biden has won?<\/p>\n Buck: I think it is clear that President Trump has certain legal rights and to start talking about President-elect Biden would, really, send a bad signal from a state party chair about those legal rights. Every election has election fraud. I was a district attorney and we had a few dozen cases presented to us every election. Some were prosecuted; some weren\u2019t prosecuted. But there is clearly fraud. The question is whether there is fraud at a level that would change the results of an election. I think it\u2019s fair to allow the court process to proceed. The history in this country of candidates challenging elections in court is long.<\/p>\n Sun: From your vantage point, do you think there was a level of fraud that would change the results of the election?<\/p>\n Buck: I just don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t believe there is that level of fraud in Colorado. We know there has been a lot of fraud in some of these major cities (historically in Chicago and New York). I have no personal knowledge that there is that level of fraud. But I have every confidence that the president will pursue his options and that when those options are complete he will do the right thing.<\/p>\n (Editor\u2019s note: There has been no proof of widespread voter fraud in the U.S. that would shift the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.)<\/p>\n Sun: I read that you are not going to seek another term as chairman of the Colorado Republican Party. Can you talk about why you made that decision and whether you\u2019re endorsing anybody to replace you.<\/p>\n Buck: Did I say that?<\/p>\n Sun: That\u2019s what a party spokesman said.<\/p>\n Buck: I don\u2019t have any comment at this point on that.<\/p>\n Sun: You haven\u2019t decided whether you\u2019re going to seek another term or not?<\/p>\n Buck: I sought the chairmanship because I thought it was important to help Cory in this critical election. I think it\u2019s really important that Republicans have a statewide elected official like Cory Gardner who can lead the party. I wanted to do everything I could to help him. I have not had conversations \u2014 and, frankly, I have been back in the swamp, involved in the reorganization of Congress \u2014 and so I haven\u2019t sat down and thought about it. I certainly did not give (a party spokesman) the authority to talk about whether I\u2019m running for another term or not.<\/p>\n Sun: To be clear: You have not made a decision either way?<\/p>\n Buck: I have not made an announcement about whether I am running for another term or not.<\/p>\n Sun: What happened with the oversight commission that formed to look into the primary controversies in Weld and El Paso counties? It was my understanding that we were going to get some kind of report on those.<\/p>\n Buck: It\u2019s my understanding, also, that you\u2019re going to get a report and I\u2019m, frankly, awful pissed off about it. If you would talk to (former Colorado Secretary of State) Scott Gessler, I would like to know why he\u2019s been sitting on this for several months. It\u2019s absolutely ridiculous. The work of the commission was done months ago. You have several young volunteers who have been accused of wrongdoing. The evidence shows otherwise and I have no idea why that has not been done. I need to have somebody else write this report, evidently, because Scott Gessler can\u2019t get it done.<\/p>\n (Editor\u2019s note: \u201cI am the chair of that commission,\u201d Gessler said Thursday in an interview with The Sun. \u201cThe buck stops with me and it is my responsibility. Chairman Buck is not responsible for any delays on that.\u201d)<\/p>\n Sun: Gessler actually suggested that he is interested in running for Colorado GOP chairman. Is there tension there?<\/p>\n Buck: No. Don\u2019t get me wrong. I don\u2019t care who runs, who doesn\u2019t run. I think that there\u2019s a certain political courtesy that you let someone announce publicly that they\u2019re not running before you make an announcement that you are running. But I can tell you that I have nothing personally against Scott Gessler other than the fact that this report is long overdue.<\/p>\n (Editor\u2019s note: Gessler confirmed to The Sun he is \u201cconsidering\u201d a run for Colorado GOP chairman.)<\/p>\n Sun: There\u2019s been some talk in the party about you running for governor or U.S. Senate in 2022. I may be putting the cart before the horse here, but are you thinking about those at all?<\/p>\n Buck: I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a cart and I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a horse. I don\u2019t know which one you want to put in front of the other. Right now, I am stuck in the swamp, trying to figure out how to get good things done for America. I have not focused on any of the issues you just talked about.<\/p>\n Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n