“Audiogate” is afoot after someone posted a YouTube voice recording online Wednesday.

The recording, at http://www.rockymountainright.com/?q=blog/8, contains Bentley Rayburn’s voice saying: “In a three-way race, Doug (Lamborn) wins.

“We gotta come to the understanding that this needs to be a two-man match.”

“I am not going to be the guy responsible for getting Doug Lamborn re-elected.”

It’s the latest salvo in the three-way race for the Republican nomination in the 5th Congressional District. Rayburn and Jeff Crank are trying to unseat Lamborn.

Rayburn is outraged that someone would secretly record him, which he said is unethical although not illegal. State law allows one party to a conversation to record a conversation without permission of the other parties.

He believes Crank did it during a meeting last summer in which he made those remarks. He said he also met with Duncan Bremer last fall and said the same thing, but he doesn’t think Bremer recorded the session.

“I don’t know why anybody would be recording it in the first place unless they had intention to using it later on,” he said. “To say either that Jeff didn’t know anything about it is either just a lie or he doesn’t have any control over his campaign people.”

Crank’s campaign consultant Patrick Davis denied the campaign is involved or knows who is.

“What Bentley said on that YouTube has been said many times. It could have been taped by any number of people,” he said.Davis admitted the campaign does record statements made by opponents, but he wasn’t aware of the recording’s source.

“Bentley Rayburn is making a bigger deal out of this than he needs to be,” he said. “Rayburn is shining the light on the fact he said these things about this contest. If I was him, I would have just let it lay.”

Kyle Fisk, a communications consultant who supports Crank, said he didn’t have anything to do with the recording but heard Rayburn make those same statements during a meeting at a Village Inn.

“That conversation happened several times with community leaders,” he said. “Those statements that he made were wide spread six or eight months ago. To assign any blame for taping it and putting it on YouTube, there’s too many options for people who could have done it.”

Fisk said Rayburn is making a mountain out of a molehill.

“Honestly, it’s absolutely old news,” he said. “It’s a distraction for the Crank campaign. Bentley is spending 24 hours talking about it. Bentley is not the man to beat. This is a two-person race. It appears from the numbers that Crank or Lamborn will win this primary.”Rayburn agreed the text of the audio is old news.

“We’ve all said we’ve had these conversations. I’ve said it in a number of places. I got with Jeff and said it would be a whole lot easier to do this with one challenger than two,” he said.

But Rayburn said more could be known if the person with the recording would disclose the entire recording, not just pieces of it.He said if the goal is to get him to withdraw from the race, it failed.

“We’re in this to win,” Rayburn said. “All of our data tells us Jeff has reached his high-water mark.”

Victory open houseThe Colorado Republican Party is opening a Regional Campaign Office to coordinate the “Get out the Vote” efforts for national, state and local candidates.

The open house will be from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday at 4525 Northpark Drive, Suite 200.Guest speakers will be Senate candidate Bob Schaffer and Colorado Victory Director James Garcia. RSVP to: Cherish Schaffer, 930-3390.

Going to the dogsCongressional candidate Jeff Crank held a news conference Wednesday at a Springs city park, and there was a lot of yipping going on.

Crank staged the meeting, with several dogs in the audience, to criticize incumbent Doug Lamborn’s vote against making dog fighting a federal crime.

Lamborn has said the federal government has enough laws and that dog fighting is a state issue.

Crank said he would have voted with Sen. Wayne Allard to make dog fighting a crime.

“Transporting dogs across state lines for purposes of dog fighting is simply wrong,” he said in a release.

GiveawaysBentley Rayburn’s 5th Congressional campaign is giving away signed and numbered prints of Rick Broome’s “Thunderbirds” painting in exchange for campaign contributions.

Those who give the maximum of $2,300 will get a “Gold Edition” version of the painting signed by Broome and Rayburn. Only 75 are available.

Those giving $1,500 will receive a framed lithograph of the painting signed by the artist and candidate.

Giving $1,000 will get you an unframed lithograph.

To contribute, www.RayburnforCongress.org

Rayburn received the endorsement of the Colorado Contractors Association, comprised of nearly 400 companies. “The significance of being endorsed by the contingency of professionals responsible for building and maintaining most of the major public infrastructure projects in Colorado cannot be overestimated,” Rayburn said in a statement. “This endorsement adds to our already surging momentum.”

Gearing upHal Bidlack, a retired Air Force officer, brought in $102,802 in the second quarter for his 5th Congressional District campaign. He’s spent $29,463, and has $77,471 on hand.

Bidlack, a Democrat, has raised a total of $108,244 before getting into the race this spring. That’s less than was raised by Jay Fawcett, the Democrat who ran in 2006. He raised $183,617 through the second quarter of 2006.

But Bidlack raised more in the quarter than Republicans Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn. Incumbent Doug Lamborn raised $117,000 during the quarter.

Send items to pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com

Photo by