COLORADO SPRINGS — The vote totals for the Colorado 5th Congressional District continue to show Republican Jeff Crank with a strong lead.
He is feeling confident about the race and also wants to be considerate of his opponent by waiting for the Associated Press to call the race before officially claiming victory.
He also needs to start preparing for the likelihood that he will be heading to Washington D.C.
“It is put your foot on the gas and go time right now,” said Crank.
There is a fast track for congressional newcomers.
“There's committee assignments that need to be done. There's, you know, ethics briefings to take. There's new member orientation. There's a new member orientation next week in Congress,” said Crank.
Opening an office in Washington D.C. and staffing needs to happen by the first of the year.
There is also the logistics of figuring out how to live between two cities.
“My wife and I are going to continue to live here, and I plan on flying back pretty much every weekend, back and forth on a plane, but I still have to have a place to stay when I'm there, so I’ve got to get all that stuff laid out.”
As a newcomer there is also lobbying to get a place on a committee.
Crank knows the Armed Services Committee is important to Southern Colorado.
He said, “The member of Congress from the Fifth Congressional District from the very first one, was Bill Armstrong. And Bill Armstrong served on the House Armed Services Committee. So did Ken Kramer and Joel Hefley And Doug Lamborn. Those are the previous members from this district.”
Tradition does not guarantee an appointment.
“I'm going to make the argument that this district, one, always had someone on that committee. But two, we've got five military installations. We've got this very robust economic defense sector here in the community.”
Crank also plans to honor what he sees as the will of his constituents expressed with their votes on election night.
“It was a mandate on the economy, to fix the broken economy, get inflation under control, and get control of our of our border, and that's what I'm going to Washington to do.”
Crank is adamant about his conservative principles.
He also plans on reaching across the aisle.
“I'm going to call every member of the delegation from Colorado, Democrat or Republican, and it doesn't matter whether the Republicans control the House or the Democrats control the House. I'm going to call them and say, look, I look forward to working with you.”
He says working together is especially important when working on issues impacting the state of Colorado.
