DENVER – A Durango financial adviser has ended his dark-horse bid to be the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.
Jaime McMillan had temporarily relocated to Denver to round up support for his campaign to win the GOP nomination and challenge Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo.
McMillan only recently joined the Republican Party. He ran for the state Legislature and U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 as an unaffiliated candidate, and he had been a registered Democrat.
He announced his withdrawal from the race in an email Friday.
“I want to thank everyone for their support and our party especially for giving me the opportunity to discuss the issues I believed were pivotal in this race,” he wrote.
He had positioned himself as a progressive Republican who favors abortion rights and wants to fix the federal health-care law, rather than repeal it entirely. Most other candidates in the crowded field are trying to appeal to the GOP’s conservative base, often with calls to repeal “Obamacare.”
McMillan said he looked forward to spending more time with his sons and running his small business, a financial advisory firm.
Republicans will gather in neighborhood caucuses March 4 for the first step in a monthlong process of picking their nominee.
jhanel@durangoherald.com
