Congratulations, Mike Coffman. The Secretary of State won the GOP primary in the 6th Congressional District, which makes him a near lock this November. But that’s a big trade-off for Republicans across Colorado.

More on that in a moment on the Face The State Radio Minute.

Mike Coffman campaigned hard to become Colorado’s Secretary of State in 2006. And now he’s one of only two Republicans holding statewide office. But Secretary Coffman will likely become Rep. Coffman after winning the Republican primary in the 6th Congressional District.

Congratulations are in order, but there’s a catch. Because he’ll leave the state office early, Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter will get to name his successor. That’s bad news for Republicans.

Coffman’s campaign says the trade-off is fair, since it’s important to have a highly-qualified Congress. But there were plenty of good candidates in that solidly conservative district. Any of the others would have done a great job, without turning such an important position over to the opposition.

For FaceTheState.com, I’m Brad Jones.