Tom Tancredo Launches Race to The Alt-Right in Colorado

Today, white nationalist and Bannonite Tom Tancredo threw his hat into the Republican gubernatorial primary in Colorado, setting off a dangerous race to the right.

Tancredo, who has well-established ties to white nationalist groups and is best known for demonizing immigrants, met with Steve Bannon this fall and is angling to win the support of the Breitbart chief. And while his views may be extreme, his core base of support within the state’s primary electorate forces the entire weak Republican field into a nasty race to the right. In the end, whoever the Republican nominee is will be weak and bloodied. 

“Colorado is just the latest state whose gubernatorial primary has descended into a free-for-all race to the right to claim the Steve Bannon mantle,” said DGA Communications Director Jared Leopold. “Coloradans will reject Tom Tancredo, and his presence in race makes it even harder for Republicans to win Colorado next year.”

See below for coverage from Tancredo’s launch announcement:

Denverite: The entry of Tom Tancredo into the crowded Republican primary field for Colorado governor will put pressure on the other candidates to move to the right to compete with him, and it’s entirely possible Tancredo could get the nomination, said a former chair of the state party. 

Denver7: Tancredo told Denver7 Tuesday that he would accept help from Bannon, President Trump, or anyone else, saying he will need it in what he expects to be a tough race

…“This is going to be the ugliest race I’ve ever run in, and I’ve run in some ugly races,” Tancredo added. “The establishment will do anything. They’re going to spend millions of dollars to try and destroy me before this primary is over with because they know my base is strong. They have to destroy that base now, and they will.”

Denver Post: After back-to-back losses in 2010 and 2014, immigration hardliner and former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo plans to try again in 2018 to become Colorado’s next governor — a move spurred in part by his anger at Republicans for not protesting when a Colorado Springs resort canceled a white nationalist conference where he was supposed to speak.

His entry into a crowded Republican field adds a combustible element to a primary already brewing with rivalries, and it could provide new insight into the mood of the Colorado GOP at the start of the Trump administration.