Rep. Doug Lamborn cruised to an easy victory in the 5th Congressional District Republican primary Tuesday night, a beneficiary of facing two challengers who split the majority of the vote.

As the victor in the primary, the first -term congressman will face Democrat Hal Bidlack, a retired Air Force officer, in November in the heavily Republican El Paso County-based district. Lamborn who rejected his Republican primary opponents’ repeated requests for a debate, said Tuesday he will meet his Democratic challenger head to head.

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Lamborn essentially won the election with the release of the early and mail-in ballot results soon after the polls closed in El Paso County at 7 p.m. He opened with 46 percent of those votes, distancing his challengers, Jeff Crank who had 29 percent and Bentley Rayburn’s 26 percent.

Crank conceded around 8 p.m., calling Lamborn to congratulate him on his victory.

“It was Doug’s night,” Crank said after he talked to Lamborn. “He deserved the victory. He worked hard for it.”

Lamborn attributed his victory to his having kept the promises he made when he was elected to Congress in 2006.

Despite his refusal to debate, Lamborn said he had a presence in the district through his personal appearances, radio, television and e-mails. He said he didn’t debate, because all three shared conservative positions on the chief issues: the war, immigration, energy policy and the economy.

“When I saw there was going to be some possibility of personal attacks, I refrained from debating my two opponents,” he said.The primary race was a rematch from two years ago when the three finished in the same order in a six way race in which Lamborn squeaked by with 27 percent of the vote.

During the campaign, Crank and Rayburn pounded Lamborn for refusing to debate, labeling him an absentee congressman.

Crank said he has no plans to challenge Lamborn a third time and will support the GOP incumbent in the November election.

“Now it’s time for healing up the party after this primary,” Crank said.

Crank, a businessman and former lobbyist, had served as an aide to former Rep. Joel Hefley, who held the 5th Congressional District seat for 20 years before retiring to a ranch in Oklahoma.

Rayburn, a retired Air Force major general, wasn’t as quick to throw in the towel.

“We’ve spent 10 months on this campaign so we can wait a while longer,” he said at 9 p.m. “Obviously, it’s a huge uphill climb, but we want to see how the mountain counties come in and see how the voting today turned out.”

Earlier today, Rayburn talked about his whirlwind spin Monday through the smaller counties in the district: Fremont, Lake, Teller, Chaffee and Park counties. Proving an intense campaign didn’t spoil his sense of humor, he joked, “We own Guffey,” referring to the small Park County community.

Two years ago, Lamborn was accused of winning by running a “sleazy” campaign and this year’s race had its share of acrimony. Crank and Rayburn accused Lamborn of rewarding companies that donated to his campaign, overusing taxpayer funded messages, and what they called his bungled handling of the proposed Fort Carson Piñon Canyon training area expansion.

Rayburn also accused Lamborn of taking credit for things he didn’t do, including securing a promise of a veterans cemetery in southern Colorado.

Lamborn countered by accusing Crank of lying in campaign ads that claimed Lamborn wasn’t telling the truth when he said he had never backed a tax increase. He also labeled Crank a lobbyist who made “hundreds of thousands of dollars” seeking earmarks for clients. Crank denied both charges.

Lamborn’s victory with less than 50 percent of the vote drove home what both challengers knew going into the race: they had no chance of unseating him in a three-way contest.

Both candidates acknowledged as much in May when they signed an agreement saying they’d yield to the other if a poll funded by both campaigns showed one clearly ahead. When the poll indicated Crank was the favorite, however, Rayburn refused to bow out and called the poll flawed.

Rayburn’s contention that Crank didn’t have a 4-percent edge was supported by today’s early results.

Asked what he’ll do now, Rayburn said, “Find a job.”-Contact the writer: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com

U.S. Congressman Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., waves to his supporters after giving a television interview at his primary gathering at Giuseppe’s Old Depot Restaurant Photo by Christian Murdock, The Gazette

Christian Murdock, The Gazette