Coffman, Lamborn and Polis prevail in Colorado primaries

Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman (R) and entrepreneur Jared Polis (D) are on the fast track to Congress after winning their respective open seat primaries Tuesday in the Rocky Mountain State.

In the state’s third big primary, freshman Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) fended off a pair of primary opponents.

{mosads}In retiring Rep. Tom Tancredo’s (R) district, Coffman defeated businessman Wil Armstrong, the son of state GOP icon former Sen. Bill Armstrong, winning 40-33. State Sens. Ted Harvey and Steve Ward were at 15 and 12 percent, respectively.

Coffman will be a heavy favorite in November, as Tancredo’s is one of relatively few open seats where Democrats are not posting a strong challenge.

He will face Democrat Hank Eng, who was uncontested in the Democratic primary. Eng raised only about $50,000 for his campaign through late July, and the seat is strongly conservative.

Lamborn, a freshman, faced a rematch against a pair of primary challengers he beat out to win the open seat of former Rep. Joel Hefley (R) in 2006. Lamborn managed a plurality win with 45 percent, while Jeff Crank took 29 percent and Bentley Rayburn had 26 percent.

Crank and Rayburn had initially made a pact to keep one of them out of the race and therefore increase their chances of beating the incumbent, but their inability to agree on whom that would be appears to have prolonged Lamborn’s congressional career.

In the 2nd, Polis won a three-person Democratic primary and will be a heavy favorite in November to replace Senate candidate Rep. Mark Udall (D). Polis spent millions of his own money on the race, and he edged former state Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald 42-38.

For the state’s open Senate seat being vacated by Republican Wayne Allard, both Udall and former Rep. Bob Schaffer (R) were uncontested.

A pitched battle is also set in the 4th district, where Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R) and Democratic challenger Betsy Markey were also unopposed Tuesday.

In other primaries Tuesday, Democrat Jim Himes expectedly sailed to victory in his primary and will face Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) in a top House race.

This report was updated at 12:04 pm on Wednesday.