Trump wins
2024-06-28 03:49:13 UTC
WINDSOR U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert decisively won the six-way Republican
primary Tuesday night in Colorados 4th Congressional District, making her
reelection to Congress highly likely despite nearly two years of
embarrassing personal and political turmoil.
The race was called by The Associated Press at 7:21 p.m., shortly after
polls closed at 7 p.m., when Boebert had 43% of the vote. She kept that
share through the night.
None of Boeberts five Republican primary opponents were coming close to
beating her. At 11:15 p.m., former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg was in a
distant second with 15% of the vote. He called Boebert to concede.
Supporters at Boeberts watch party at a Windsor restaurant cheered loudly
when Fox News, being broadcast on large TVs at the venue, announced
Boeberts victory. The congresswoman, wearing a MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
hat signed by Donald Trump and a pair of the former presidents gold,
branded sneakers, gave her mother a big hug.
Relief washed across her face.
We know we are going to have a landslide victory on Nov. 5 in CD4, she
said as she declared victory in the primary.
Boebert vowed to unite Republicans, including her primary opponents,
around her general election campaign.
Because of how favorable the 4th District is to Republicans, Boebert is
the overwhelming favorite to win in November. Former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a
Republican, won his last two elections in the GOP stronghold, which
includes Douglas County and Loveland and sweeps across the Eastern Plains,
by a whopping 23 percentage points each.
Another sign the district is unlikely to back a Democrat over Boebert:
Republican Greg Lopez on Tuesday easily won the special election in the
district to serve out the remainder of Bucks term. (The congressman
resigned on March 22.) Lopezs lead was 23 percentage points as of 11:45
p.m.
The large primary field split the anti-Boebert vote, and none among the
group could match Boeberts fundraising ability and name recognition among
voters. As a result, Boebert dominated the airwaves while her opponents
fumbled to find a breakthrough message. The five seemed to struggle to
decide if they should attack Boebert or each other or rise above the
drama.
We can do better than Lauren Boebert, Sonnenberg, who is now a Logan
County commissioner, said in the lone TV ad he could afford to air. I
will not embarrass you with scandals.
Sonnenberg had initially promised not to attack his opponents during his
campaign, but ditched that plan in the home stretch as Boebert appeared to
be running away with the race.
Boebert won because there was such a crowded primary and she has
universal name ID, said former state Sen. Greg Brophy, a Republican who
was supporting Sonnenberg. Had Boebert had a head to head with almost any
of the other five, she would have lost.
Lori Weigel, a Republican pollster in Colorado, agreed that the large
primary field and Boeberts name ID played to her advantage. But Weigel
said Boeberts opponents also struggled against her star power.
I think we are in a topsy-turvy world where its an attention economy,
she said. As weve seen at the presidential level, its hard to stop an
attention-demanding candidate. You can have great policy ideas, but we
live in a world where drama demands attention.
In the end, the 4th District proved a soft landing spot for what seemed
like Boeberts freefall after her 546-vote win in 2022 over Democrat Adam
Frisch in the 3rd Congressional District, which is mostly on the other
side of the state.
After narrowly winning reelection two years ago, Boebert divorced her
husband, Jayson, and tried to moderate her pistol-packing, burn-it-down
image. That fell apart after she was ejected in September from a
performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver after vaping and
groping with a male companion. Her behavior, which she initially lied
about, was captured by surveillance cameras and rebroadcast across the
country. She became a national punchline.
In December, with her reelection campaign in the 3rd District still
limping from the Beetlejuice drama and her political prospects shaky,
Bucks decision to leave Congress offered an off-ramp. She switched her
reelection campaign to run in the more Republican 4th District instead,
shocking the political world with her unorthodox decision.
Boebert moved with her youngest children to Windsor from Rifle at the
beginning of the year and told voters that while the crops were different
where she came from, the values were the same. She was endorsed by Trump
and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
While Boeberts carpetbagging was met with condemnation and skepticism
from power players in the 4th District, voters based on Tuesdays
results clearly felt differently.
Dan Stephen, who lives in Elbert County and is the manager at Franktown
Firearms Shooting Center, told The Colorado Sun after the congresswoman
visited the store in late February that he didnt mind that she had
recently moved into the district.
Everything Ive seen with her and read about her I just think shes a
strong force, he said. Its something that we need. She seems like just
a very real person. Its not really even a competition in my mind.
He added: Its time for change across the board. I think that shes going
to be a very welcome change to the district.
As of 11:15 p.m., heres how Boeberts other Republican opponents in the
4th District primary were faring:
Conservative commentator Deborah Flora 14%
State Rep. Richard Holtorf 11%
State Rep. Mike Lynch 11%
Mortgage broker Peter Yu 7%
Boebert told reporters that she was nervous heading into the weekend
before Election Day.
I had those thoughts of Did I miss something? Is there something that
Im not seeing. Is there someone I didnt reach, didnt talk to, didnt
spend enough time with?' Boebert said Tuesday night.
Ultimately, Boebert said, she felt she and her team put in the work to
win.
I came into this knowing that I was going to have to work, she said of
her district switch.
The AP called the three-way Democratic primary in the 4th District for
Trisha Calvarese, a former speechwriter and congressional staffer, at
11:33 p.m.
Calvarese said she was incredibly proud to be a daughter of the
district.
I know personally the economic challenges that we face. Everyone wants to
know what are you going to do for my family this is my family now, she
said.
At the time the race was called, Calvarese was leading with 45% of the
vote. In second was Marine veteran Ike McCorkle, who lost to Buck in 2020
and 2022, with 41% of the vote. In a distant third and with no chance of
catching up was John Padora, a manufacturing engineer, with 13% of the
vote.
Calvarese lost by a wide margin to Lopez in the 4th District special
election Tuesday to serve out Bucks term in Congress.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/06/25/lauren-boebert-wins-primary-colorado-
4th-district/
primary Tuesday night in Colorados 4th Congressional District, making her
reelection to Congress highly likely despite nearly two years of
embarrassing personal and political turmoil.
The race was called by The Associated Press at 7:21 p.m., shortly after
polls closed at 7 p.m., when Boebert had 43% of the vote. She kept that
share through the night.
None of Boeberts five Republican primary opponents were coming close to
beating her. At 11:15 p.m., former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg was in a
distant second with 15% of the vote. He called Boebert to concede.
Supporters at Boeberts watch party at a Windsor restaurant cheered loudly
when Fox News, being broadcast on large TVs at the venue, announced
Boeberts victory. The congresswoman, wearing a MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN
hat signed by Donald Trump and a pair of the former presidents gold,
branded sneakers, gave her mother a big hug.
Relief washed across her face.
We know we are going to have a landslide victory on Nov. 5 in CD4, she
said as she declared victory in the primary.
Boebert vowed to unite Republicans, including her primary opponents,
around her general election campaign.
Because of how favorable the 4th District is to Republicans, Boebert is
the overwhelming favorite to win in November. Former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, a
Republican, won his last two elections in the GOP stronghold, which
includes Douglas County and Loveland and sweeps across the Eastern Plains,
by a whopping 23 percentage points each.
Another sign the district is unlikely to back a Democrat over Boebert:
Republican Greg Lopez on Tuesday easily won the special election in the
district to serve out the remainder of Bucks term. (The congressman
resigned on March 22.) Lopezs lead was 23 percentage points as of 11:45
p.m.
The large primary field split the anti-Boebert vote, and none among the
group could match Boeberts fundraising ability and name recognition among
voters. As a result, Boebert dominated the airwaves while her opponents
fumbled to find a breakthrough message. The five seemed to struggle to
decide if they should attack Boebert or each other or rise above the
drama.
We can do better than Lauren Boebert, Sonnenberg, who is now a Logan
County commissioner, said in the lone TV ad he could afford to air. I
will not embarrass you with scandals.
Sonnenberg had initially promised not to attack his opponents during his
campaign, but ditched that plan in the home stretch as Boebert appeared to
be running away with the race.
Boebert won because there was such a crowded primary and she has
universal name ID, said former state Sen. Greg Brophy, a Republican who
was supporting Sonnenberg. Had Boebert had a head to head with almost any
of the other five, she would have lost.
Lori Weigel, a Republican pollster in Colorado, agreed that the large
primary field and Boeberts name ID played to her advantage. But Weigel
said Boeberts opponents also struggled against her star power.
I think we are in a topsy-turvy world where its an attention economy,
she said. As weve seen at the presidential level, its hard to stop an
attention-demanding candidate. You can have great policy ideas, but we
live in a world where drama demands attention.
In the end, the 4th District proved a soft landing spot for what seemed
like Boeberts freefall after her 546-vote win in 2022 over Democrat Adam
Frisch in the 3rd Congressional District, which is mostly on the other
side of the state.
After narrowly winning reelection two years ago, Boebert divorced her
husband, Jayson, and tried to moderate her pistol-packing, burn-it-down
image. That fell apart after she was ejected in September from a
performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver after vaping and
groping with a male companion. Her behavior, which she initially lied
about, was captured by surveillance cameras and rebroadcast across the
country. She became a national punchline.
In December, with her reelection campaign in the 3rd District still
limping from the Beetlejuice drama and her political prospects shaky,
Bucks decision to leave Congress offered an off-ramp. She switched her
reelection campaign to run in the more Republican 4th District instead,
shocking the political world with her unorthodox decision.
Boebert moved with her youngest children to Windsor from Rifle at the
beginning of the year and told voters that while the crops were different
where she came from, the values were the same. She was endorsed by Trump
and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
While Boeberts carpetbagging was met with condemnation and skepticism
from power players in the 4th District, voters based on Tuesdays
results clearly felt differently.
Dan Stephen, who lives in Elbert County and is the manager at Franktown
Firearms Shooting Center, told The Colorado Sun after the congresswoman
visited the store in late February that he didnt mind that she had
recently moved into the district.
Everything Ive seen with her and read about her I just think shes a
strong force, he said. Its something that we need. She seems like just
a very real person. Its not really even a competition in my mind.
He added: Its time for change across the board. I think that shes going
to be a very welcome change to the district.
As of 11:15 p.m., heres how Boeberts other Republican opponents in the
4th District primary were faring:
Conservative commentator Deborah Flora 14%
State Rep. Richard Holtorf 11%
State Rep. Mike Lynch 11%
Mortgage broker Peter Yu 7%
Boebert told reporters that she was nervous heading into the weekend
before Election Day.
I had those thoughts of Did I miss something? Is there something that
Im not seeing. Is there someone I didnt reach, didnt talk to, didnt
spend enough time with?' Boebert said Tuesday night.
Ultimately, Boebert said, she felt she and her team put in the work to
win.
I came into this knowing that I was going to have to work, she said of
her district switch.
The AP called the three-way Democratic primary in the 4th District for
Trisha Calvarese, a former speechwriter and congressional staffer, at
11:33 p.m.
Calvarese said she was incredibly proud to be a daughter of the
district.
I know personally the economic challenges that we face. Everyone wants to
know what are you going to do for my family this is my family now, she
said.
At the time the race was called, Calvarese was leading with 45% of the
vote. In second was Marine veteran Ike McCorkle, who lost to Buck in 2020
and 2022, with 41% of the vote. In a distant third and with no chance of
catching up was John Padora, a manufacturing engineer, with 13% of the
vote.
Calvarese lost by a wide margin to Lopez in the 4th District special
election Tuesday to serve out Bucks term in Congress.
https://coloradosun.com/2024/06/25/lauren-boebert-wins-primary-colorado-
4th-district/