Darryl Glenn, the Republican challenger for U.S. Senate, visited Durango on Sunday, and he criticized incumbent Michael Bennet for not doing more of the same.

Glenn attended the Durango Elk’s Lodge breakfast. The stop was part of a series of campaign events in Southwest Colorado.

Though he was unable to speak politics at the bipartisan event, he told The Durango Herald afterward he has spoken to many constituents on the Western Slope who feel abandoned by Bennet.

“That has been a theme,” Glenn said of his stops in Cortez, Durango and Salida, among others. “They expect their representation to come out more and talk to them. If you aren’t talking with people and understanding their concerns, you can’t do your job.”

Glenn said the overwhelming majority of Western Slope residents are concerned about the loss of jobs, particularly in the energy industry, and the rising cost of health care.

Most polls show the current El Paso County Commissioner trails Bennet with less than 50 days until the election, but Glenn, now on his “third or fourth” visit to the Western Slope, said he’s gaining traction.

“We have a lot of support,” he said. “They appreciate the fact I’m willing to come out here and listen. Sometimes people outside of the Front Range feel like they’re being left out.”

At the Montezuma County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner on Saturday, The Cortez Journal reported that Glenn said he intends to repeal the Affordable Care Act, secure the borders and protect the Second Amendment.

“I am the human equivalent of a unicorn,” he said. “I am Michael Bennet’s worst nightmare. I will break every stereotype.”

Bennet’s press secretary, Alyssa Roberts, said Sunday Bennet “has visited the Western Slope countless times, and he has worked with community leaders to make progress on several important regional issues, such as expanding liquefied natural gas exports and passing the farm bill.”

“Just last week, the Senate approved Bennet’s bipartisan bill to expedite reimbursements for those impacted by the Gold King Mine spill, which he wrote with several Republican senators,” she said. “Yet Darryl Glenn has been clear that he won’t work across the aisle to get things done – and the last thing we need is another partisan obstructionist in the U.S. Senate.”

jromeo@durangoherald.com