The dairy farmer-turned-banker-turned-buffalo rancher got into the GOP contest late as Republicans worried they didn't have a viable candidate to defeat Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper in November.
Now the party believes it has a fighting chance of unseating an incumbent whose popularity has teeter-tottered much of the past year.
Beauprez bested three rivals in the primary. Returns showed former Congressman Tom Tancredo, an immigration firebrand who some believed had strong chance of victory, trailed in second place, while Secretary of State Scott Gessler and former state Sen. Mike Kopp were in third and fourth, respectively.
"Certainly Beauprez is the underdog against John Hickenlooper, who has raised money and has the power of incumbency. But for Republican strategists both locally and nationally, they'll probably sleep a little easier headed into November with him on the ballot and not Tancredo," said Nathan L. Gonzales, deputy editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report.
Republicans haven't won a U.S. Senate or gubernatorial race in Colorado since 2002, and now the party sets its sights on a Beauprez victory while banking on Congressman Cory Gardner unseating incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Udall in one of the most competitive top-ticket races in the country.
"This is a clear expression that the party wants to win in November and take the fight to Hickenlooper. (Beauprez) is a candidate all Republicans can rally around in November," said Dick Wadhams, former Republican party chairman.
