It's about 14 months until the Republicans pick their candidate for U.S. Senate. That long wait hasn't deterred at least three candidates from throwing their hats into the ring. To date, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck, Denver Businessman Clive Tidwell and Aurora Councilman Ryan Frazier have taken the formal steps to become candidates. Apparently waiting in the wings are Bob Beauprez, Dan Caplis, Troy Eid and Tom Tancredo. Whenever any or all of these heavyweights jump into the race, it will become quite interesting. But right now, Buck, Tidwell and Frazier are making the rounds, county by county.

On Friday, June 19th, Councilman Ryan Frazier visited the Douglas County Republicans at their monthly meeting in Castle Rock. Frazier has an interesting background that could serve him well if he becomes elected.

After five years of service in the U.S. Navy with the National Security Agency, Frazier was honorably discharged. He used his Navy skills while working at Raytheon before becoming a partner at Takara Systems. He ran and was elected to the Aurora City Council where he presently serves. He is married to his wife Kathy and they have three good-looking kids.

Frazier is tech savvy and it shows. If you google him you get a lot of hits and he is on facebook, twitter, flickr, youtube, etc. A lot of more experienced candidates are slow to embrace the new social networking tools. Not Frazier.

As Frazier addressed the Douglas GOPers, he had some interesting takes on a number of subjects. He zoomed in on the Dems defeat of the D.C. Scholarship Opportunity Act. Shutting down this program cuts offinner city kids from getting a decent education. He accused the Dems of being anti-choice when it comes to education. Frazier embraces home schooling, charter schools and other alternatives to the traditional public education system;not because one is necessarily better but because parents should have a choice. He is adamantly a free market supporter. He said, " We need to incentivize the producers to produce."

In keeping with hisNaval background, Frazier advocates that law enforcement officers become eligible for security clearances so that local police agencies can work hand inhand with the federal agencies.

Concerning Iran and North Korea, Frazier shared his concerns that these countries may become unstable and then sell weapons of mass destruction to third parties. He thinks the Iran election is suspicious.

All in all, Councilman Frazier made a good impression on the Douglas GOP and he is a welcome addition in the U.S. Senate race.

Mike Robinson is Senior Partner at Robinson & Henry P.C., a Castle Rock law firm.