The Colorado agricultural services entrepreneur challenging Republican Rep. Ken Buck in the June 25 primary for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District told RedState why the sell-by date has passed for the former staffer to then-congressman Dick Cheney—and ally of his daughter, forcibly-retired congresswoman Liz Cheney.

“It was the last probably three months I've been contemplating this, and when he started his self-destruction mode with Jan. 6,” said Trent Leisy, the owner of the Windsor-based Northern Seeds. 

“The support I've received inside the district's been incredible,” he said.

“I've gotten money in for people all the way from Maine to California; it's just been an outpouring,” he said. “We'll see what happens with the amount of support that I'm getting nationwide and the backlash that he's getting. It's been incredible.”

I heard that Chuck Schumer changed the dress code for John Fetterman...

Once I beat my RINO primary opponent, Ken Buck, and win this election,

I wonder what Chuck Schumer would think of this!

Help me beat RINO Ken Buck by donating to my campaign with DonorBox here:… pic.twitter.com/ZjATsMglSt

— Trent Leisy (@realTrentLeisy) October 27, 2023

Leisy said he was put off by Buck’s criticism of former President Donald J. Trump and his refusal to support Rep. Jim Jordan (R.-Ohio) for speaker. “He said he wasn't going to support a convicted felon, and that is what started it for me; then when he said he wasn't going to support Jim Jordan, I said: ‘OK, I got to do this because this guy, he's needed to go.’”

It is also a problem that Buck supported Liz Cheney, either out of loyalty to the family or out of his sincere belief that her attacks against Trump were correct, he said.

“The Liz Cheney thing is interesting because Ken Buck has been the only person that has supported her all the way,” he said. 

“ That goes back years and years and years ago when Ken Buck worked with Dick Cheney,” he said. “I think Liz Cheney, she's a RINO. She is part of the establishment, and she hates Trump because of Trump's feelings on her dad and what her dad did as vice president.” RINO is an acronym for someone accused of being a Republican-in-name-only. 

Cheney was the sole at-large member of Congress from Wyoming, which was becoming more liberal as Cheyenne, along with the southeast corner of the state, is becoming a Denver suburb, as it is 100 miles north of the Mile-High City up Route 25.

Buck’s loyalty to Cheney was undeterred as the congresswoman responded to the changing demographic of her state.

Leisy: Buck lost his connection with the district

Leisy said Buck’s loyalty should have been to the district. “I feel like he has a commitment and a duty to stand up and protect that family.”

The businessman announced his campaign on Oct. 16 and was joined at his Oct. 22 campaign kickoff by former Georgia state representative Vernon Jones.

🚨RINO KEN BUCK PRIMARIED!

"President Trump has gotta have a Congress, though, that can work with him... I know President Trump can work with Trent.

...THE BUCK STOPS HERE!"

Thank you so much, @VernonForGA, for helping not only me, but Colorado's 4th District beat my RINO… pic.twitter.com/lQaWQiM4km

— Trent Leisy (@realTrentLeisy) October 23, 2023

Leisy said the biggest problem with Buck is he no longer has a connection with the people in the district. 

“He wants to be portrayed as far right when he actually is a RINO; he doesn't have that reputation anymore, and he's more RINO than he's ever been,” the Colorado State University graduate said. 

“There has been an outpouring in CD 4 to get rid of Ken Buck, and I just felt like it was the right time at the right place and the right moment to step into this race because Ken Buck's time's up,” he said. 

The businessman said people close to the congressman told him that Buck has always wanted to be a presenter on CNN, so there is every chance he takes himself off the field. “That is pretty credible information I've received from people close to him.”

In the last month, Buck made at least 25 cable news appearances, 15 of them on CNN—including his calling into CNN during the Oct. 25 House floor roll call vote that secured the speakership for Rep. Mike Johnson (R.-La.).

“I don't think he's going to run again,” Leisy said. “There's been a lot of speculation that he's just going to bow out of this thing--I hope he does.”

If he does not run, Leisy said it is his understanding that Buck has someone lined up to succeed him. "He has somebody I think he would support in the race, but they're just like him.”

Leisy: My campaign focuses on farmers, farm economy

Leisy said his livelihood and the lifeblood of the district is agriculture, and he understands the challenges facing farmers under President Joseph R. Biden Jr.—and how they knew Trump had their back.

“I own different small businesses. My main business is agriculture, and so the last year, this year was pretty tough on agriculture in Colorado and in the states that I work in when I work with farmers,” he said.

“I work with farmers on corn seed recommendations and what they need for product. I follow the product from the time it gets planted to harvest time,” Leisy said.

The businessman said one of the major transitions taking place in the district is that the Biden administration is making it more difficult for non-corporate agriculture to survive because of its regulations and regulation enforcement, in addition to the effects of Bidenomics. 

“Corporations come in, and they buy up farms, and they run them as corporations,” he said. 

“When you look at the small farmer, which a lot of my growers are, small mom-and-pop farmers still, they're struggling,” he said.

“Those farmers that woke up every day, they farm the land, they go to bed; this is their job, this is what they love, this is their passion,” Leisy said. “These are multi-generational farms.”

“It’s the largest district geographically district in Colorado. It's very rural. There are two big cities that make up CD 4, which are Loveland and Castle Rock, but everything else to the east, it's the most conservative part of the state,” he said. "I believe it's a plus-14 when you look at the election numbers.” The plus-14 refers to the GOP advantage in voter registrations.

Colorado-4 is like a north-south stripe stretching between the state’s eastern corners and extending west until it reaches the density around Denver in the north and Pueblo in the south. 

Leisy said Buck’s district is trending conservative, as Buck seems to be going in the other direction. 

“It’s very conservative,” he said. “A lot of people who are close to Ken believe that he is more out of touch with conservative values, with conservative principles with his district.”

The battle to represent the district is the primary, he said. "I mean, because we're so strong in a Republican district, I mean, as long as you get through the primary, you've won. You've won the district.”

Leisy: Farmers know Trump did not sell them out

In rough numbers, the value of U.S. and China goods trade is $760 billion, with China selling $560 billion to the U.S. and buying $200 billion. Of the $200 billion China buys from America, $40 billion is agricultural—and it was this sector that the Chinese targeted during trade negotiations with Trump—knowing full well those districts were politically the most supportive of Trump.

“They all knew it,” he said. “They all knew they were going to be affected, but they knew that Trump was going to take care of them,” he said.

The farmers also appreciated the billions of dollars in financial assistance the president sent them from the tariffs he placed on China. 

“Trump did not sell them out to China, did not sell them out to Canada, to Europe, to Mexico. Trump is the only president when it comes to agriculture that has fulfilled every promise that he has made,” he said.

Leisy said his farmers understood that they were suffering for a greater good, which is different from their suffering under Biden. 

“Farmers knew it. Every one of my farmers, and I've been in agriculture for years, and every farmer knew that Trump had their back,” he said.

“Under the Trump administration, farmers knew Trump had their best interest in mind when he was renegotiating trade deals with China and with Europe and with Canada and Mexico,” he said. 

“They knew they were going to take a short-term hit for a long-term gain, and they were OK with that," he said.

“They understood,” he said. “He was the first president in history who worked for them and then knew it."

Under Bidenomics, there is no greater good at play, he said. 

“They’re hurting because the price of inputs has gone up, fuel costs have gone up, seed costs have gone up. I mean, everything that goes into agriculture has gone up,” he said.

“The No. 1 driving factor is oil,” he said. 

“The first thing Biden did in office was attack the fossil fuel industry, which had a huge impact on everything related to agriculture.”