Rep. Lauren Boebert’s choice to run for election in the 4th Congressional District on the opposite side of the state was a surprising strategy. But the move makes sense as her U.S. House seat is vulnerable. Her second-time 3rd Congressional District challenger Democrat Adam Frisch has raised more than three times the money she has, and is polling neck and neck.
Frisch would have been a strong contender, along with fellow Republican Grand Junction attorney Republican Jeffrey Hurd, endorsed by highly respected past GOP leaders in Colorado, including Sen. Hank Brown and Gov. Bill Owens, and current Colorado Springs mayor and former state Attorney General John Suthers. Brown and Owens are of an older generation and their names, along with Suthers,’ carry weight with a demographic that votes.
CD-4, which runs from the Wyoming state line to the Oklahoma Panhandle, is heavily Republican, exceeding Democratic voter registration by 25% to 30%. A Republican will go to Congress. You can count on that.
But it might not be Boebert.
Republicans on the Eastern Plains may be more culturally conservative than those on the West Slope and her theatrics (and that theater behavior) may not be wanted, or excused. And, voters are certain to ask themselves, is she here for us or for herself?
A couple of announced Republican candidates for CD-4 bring characteristics that originated in Colorado’s plains, distant from Boebert’s former grille in Rifle.
Republican voters in the 21-county 4th House district might prefer to send to Washington someone with roots similar to their own, who have contributed to their communities and to Colorado, rather than a West Slope transplant who wears her extremism on her sleeve.
Jerry Sonnenberg, who served four terms in the state House and two terms in the state Senate, has farmed and managed cattle on his family’s 7,000 acres near Sterling in Logan County. A graduate of Northeastern Junior College, Sonnenberg was a member of the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, supported lowering the state income tax rate, opposed civil unions for same sex couples and defended the need for the death penalty.
Richard Holtorf of Akron is a third-generation family rancher, farmer and feed lot manager, who served two terms in the state House before being elected to the state Senate. Holtorf has advocated for rural broadband and the economic impacts of groundwater depletion to be studied. He earned an undergraduate degree from Colorado State University and a Master of Business Administration while in the military. Holtorf had an educational stint at the Army’s War College and two overseas deployments. He retired as a colonel.
Both Sonnenberg and Holtorf point to county Farm Bureau board and ag group participation, while Holtorf was a member of Washington County’s planning and zoning board, and a local VFW leader.
In announcing her decision on Wednesday, Boebert said she was looking for “a fresh start,” which could reference her indiscreet behavior with a date at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in October. It also could mean she intends to dial back the in-your-face posturing that gives her attention.
Winning the 3rd a third time was increasingly becoming doubtful for Lauren Boebert, but the 4th may not be that certain. The primary is June 25.
