Before Wayne Allard ran for public office, he was a veterinarian and a small-business owner. According to his campaign, his background in business is central to his politics, and is often mentioned in his official biographies before his work as first-term senator from Colorado.

But while in the Senate, Allard has built a reputation as a collegial, quiet legislator who holds at least one town hall meeting in each Colorado county each year while maintaining a 99 percent voting record.

Despite Allard's quiet personality and self-styled populist image, his voting record is solidly conservative, voting as often with his party as stalwart Republicans Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond. For this election, Allard has labeled his record a "common sense" conservative one that meshes with the moderate views of many of the people of Colorado.

Although he has held more than 60 annual town meetings, Allard is not particularly well known in his state. Only 37 percent could name him in an August poll by the Denver Post, while only 23 percent knew he was running for re-election -- a fact that appears not to bother him. "So I'm dull, what can I say?" he told the Denver Post at the time. "I don't think it's bad to be boring in politics."

Allard was born in 1943 in Fort Collins, Colorado and raised on a ranch near the rural town of Walden. He studied veterinary medicine at Colorado State University, and started Allard Animal Hospital with his wife, Joan, after his graduation in 1968.

He began his political career with a run for the Colorado state Senate in 1983. During his seven years there he sponsored a law to limit state legislative sessions to 120 days. He ran for and was elected to the U.S. House in 1990, where he served until his successful Senate run in 1996.

Allard often draws attention to his local environmental record, where he has led efforts to turn Rocky Flats, a decommissioned nuclear weapons plant, into a national wildlife refuge. He also passed legislation that created a new national park and wilderness area in his home state, and banned over-flights at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Despite his work at home, his voting record on national environmental issues prompted the League of Conservation Voters to name him one of their "Dirty Dozen" -- a list of legislators who consistently vote against the environmental groups. The LCV contends Allard has cast just a single pro-environmental vote -- to prevent the federal government from allowing drilling in national monuments -- in his six years as senator.

Allard defends his record, saying it is up to the states to decide many of these issues. It is a philosophy Allard has applied to other issues as well, such as his opposition to a bill requiring background checks for purchases at gun shows throughout the country. Allard pointed to the fact that Colorado voters had already endorsed a similar law as proof it need not be a national issue.

But on most issues, he is solidly in the Republican camp -- voting with his party 98 percent of the time. Because of his voting record, interest groups frequently rank him either at the top or the bottom of their lists. The National Taxpayers' Union gave him their "Taxpayer's Friend" award in 2001, ranking him highest among all U.S. senators for his "commitment to reducing or controlling federal spending, taxes, debt, and regulation." The Children's Defense Fund, on the other hand, placed Allard on the "Worst Senators for Children" list in 1999, based on his lack of support on legislation endorsed by the group.

Democrats are basing opponent Tom Strickland's campaign on the notion that Allard is too far right, and out of touch with the majority of the state.

Which image of Wayne Allard -- the down-home populist or the extreme conservative -- will eventually prevail remains to be seen, as one of the tightest races in the country plays out between now and election day.

--By Emily Birr, Online NewsHour