Colorado’s 4th Congressional District is predictably and intentionally a no-brainer for Republicans. It is about 80% white and predominantly rural and suburban. Only 17.7% of voters are registered Democrats, while 37.1% are Republicans and a whopping 43.6% are non-religious.
But while no one is banking on a surprise, things in the Flatlands are a lot more interesting this year than anyone could have expected before Ken Buck fled the dysfunctional U.S. House of Representatives in March to save his sanity.
This time, it’s not the sleepy, boring election season of the days when traditional conservatives Buck and Cory Gardner cruised to easy victories without much drama. No, this year it’s a crazy MAGA spectacle on steroids.
So buckle up. The next few days before the June 25 primary are sure to be a wild ride.
The best way to judge the choices is through the words of the candidates. In the run-up to the election, The Sun has provided a handy table of the views they have expressed on various issues.
Six candidates are vying for the Republican nomination: Richard Holtorf, Mike Lynch, Deborah Flora, Jerry Sonnenberg, Peter Yu and the clear favorite Lauren Boebert, who is considered the candidate because of her name recognition, war chest and raunchy bad-girl appeal.
When it came to the ultimate litmus test, namely whether they would vote for convicted felon and rapist Donald Trump as president, all candidates said a clear “yes.”
Among them was no bold profile in the style of Liz Cheney.
But that’s about where the unanimity ends, although they all seem to deny climate change to varying degrees. So if you’re looking for a leader who will address the conditions that led to events like the $2 billion Marshall Fire and the increased cost and reduced availability of homeowners insurance across the state and country, you’re out of luck with the candidates on the Republican slate.
They are divided on whether they would support a federal abortion ban. Holtorf, Lynch and Yu are against it, Sonnenberg, Flora and Boebert are for it. All but Boebert support continued aid to Ukraine, and Boebert is also the only one who says the 2020 election was rigged.
It gets even scarier when they name federal agencies they want to abolish.
Sonnenberg wants to downsize the CIA, although there are undoubtedly failings and controversies (the horrific torture and abuse during the Iraq war is a repulsive example), but without a competent intelligence agency, the US Department of Defense, corporations, communications, elections, and citizens would all be easy prey.
Lynch wants to abolish the entire Justice Department, which presumably means abolishing all federal law since there would be no enforcement mechanism. Imagine a country without civil rights protections, food safety regulations, copyright laws, patents, and the ability to prosecute corrupt federal officials.
And on the immigration issue, the candidates have starkly different views. While Boebert wants to send armies of federal agents to round up the estimated 10 million illegal immigrants in our communities and remove them from the country, Sonnenberg wants to find a way to give them a chance to stay, saying it’s a humanitarian issue. Holtorf wants to provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, with the exception of “combat-age males from the Middle East,” whom he would immediately deport to “those terrorist countries.”
Oops.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic ticket, Trisha Calvarese, John Padora Jr. and Ike McCorkle provide a stark contrast to the Republican candidates, and the Sun’s handy guide again provides details.
All support enshrining protections for abortion rights and reproductive rights, including fertility treatments and contraception, in federal law. All support restrictions on access to firearms. Padora calls for laws to ensure safe storage of firearms, McCorkle supports a measure to raise the minimum age to purchase firearms to 21, and Calvarese supports a measure to eliminate special liability protections for the gun industry.
The candidates also agreed on the need for comprehensive immigration reform that would secure the border and provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.
All three expressed deep concern about climate change and called for urgent action. Padora supports a ban on new oil and gas drilling, building renewable energy infrastructure, and efforts to ensure a just transition for energy workers. Calvarese wants to promote efforts to increase resilience to the devastating impacts of climate change, and McCorkle wants to ensure oil and gas workers are not left behind as the country takes immediate steps to transition to clean energy.
The outcome of the primaries will certainly be interesting, but the real show will take place in November.
The 4th Congressional District is just one vivid example of the extreme polarization in the country. We are all caught up in it, fighting to keep friendships and family relationships from falling apart in this toxic environment.
But while the Fourth of July is a breeding ground in Colorado, it may ultimately be far less predictable than most of us could have imagined just a few months ago.
In fact, at this point, it’s a wild card in the volatile political slugfest that is the 2024 election. A recent poll has McCorkle beating Boebert 41% to 27%, with 33% undecided at this point. All those unaffiliated voters can make this a real contest.
And yet …
A lot can change in five months. Voters are just beginning to pay attention. With the political environment still changing, polls are even more unreliable than usual.
Anything can happen in the Wild West of Colorado’s 4th state.
The Colorado Sun is a nonpartisan news organization and the opinions expressed by columnists and feature writers do not reflect the views of the newsroom. To learn more about The Sun’s opinion policy, read our ethics policy.. Learn how to submit a column. Reach the opinion editor at [email protected].
Follow Colorado Sun Opinion on Facebook.
