Election 2010: tom Wiens aims for upset in U.S. senate race: Castle Rock rancher and former state legislator thinks he can best Jane Norton and Ken Buck in Republican primary.

• Author: Colorado Biz, Mike Cote
• Position: ELECTION - Interview

ColoradoBiz: You're in a hotly contested primary, with Ken Buck and Jane Norton thus far running neck and neck. What are you doing to set yourself apart?

Tom Wiens: Being a rancher and being in the horse business, I kind look at it like a horse race. Coming into the final turn, seldom is the leading horse the winner. I think we're just working hard to position ourselves in the right place so that when the finish line comes up on the August primary we will be there and we will cross the finish line first.

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ColoradoBiz: Nothing says "serious candidate" like someone who is willing to put up a half a million dollars of his own money.

Wiens: This election is really going to determine what it's like to live in this country for a long, long time. I am a student of history. You read the founding documents and you read how the founders signed the Declaration (of Independence). They said they risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. I really think it's that kind of time again, and that people really need to make sacrifices to stand up and try to move forward the republic in a way that the founders had determined.

ColoradoBiz: Like some other candidates in this race, you're using the petition process. Tell us about that decision.

Wiens: I decided to petition some time ago. We were the first to announce that. And we really didn't participate in the precinct caucuses. We have been focused on getting organized to get our petition signatures in, and we are organized, and we're doing that very, very successfully. I think it's highly likely that I'll be the first person to qualify to be on the ballot.

ColoradoBiz: How has your experience as legislator and small businessman and rancher prepared you to be a senator?

Wiens: I'm not a career bureaucrat. I've never worked for the federal government. The two other candidates, the primary hallmark of their careers is working for the federal government and the federal bureaucracy. I'm not an attorney; I'm a small businessman. When I voted on legislation in the business affairs committee at the state Legislature, I knew what I was voting on; I know the effect of taxes, the effect of regulation.

ColoradoBiz: You probably have some agreement with your competitors in the primary about small government, something that neither Democratic nor Republican administrations have championed in recent years.

Wiens: Both parties are really to blame. If you look at when the Republicans took...