The biggest move ahead of the June 25 Colorado congressional primaries was a district switch, and it happened months ago.
Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) decision to depart from Colorado’s Third District, on the western slope, in favor of the Fourth District in the eastern half of the state came after a rocky divorce from her husband, Jayson Boebert.
Before the move, the Freedom Caucus mainstay was set for a rematch against Adam Frisch, the Democrat who came within a few hundred votes of beating her in 2022. She eked out a victory that year after a closely watched recount.
While he won’t be up against Ms. Boebert this time, Mr. Frisch’s big fundraising haul has still positioned him well for November as he seeks to influence the GOP field through television advertising.
Meanwhile, a Republican endorsed by former President Donald Trump could move closer to facing a Democrat incumbent in a district evenly divided between the two parties.
Here’s what to look out for in Colorado’s congressional primaries—and a key special election.
In Third District, Democrat Frisch Spends Big
Mr. Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman, has been Colorado’s big fundraiser this congressional primary cycle.
His campaign boasts receipts of more than $13.1 million. He also has more than $3.7 million in cash on hand according to federal elections reporting.
While his fundraising slowed down after Ms. Boebert changed districts, his totals still dwarf those of his Republican opponents. Mr. Frisch’s only rivals on the Democratic side, veterinarian Debby Burnett and Grand Junction Mayor Anna Maria Stout, left the race months ago.
The former New York currency trader has used some of his ample monetary resources to run an attack ad against a top Republican opponent, Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd.
Mr. Hurd, a veteran of the white-shoe law firm Sullivan & Cromwell who clerked for federal appeals court Judge Timothy Tymkovich, led rival GOP candidate Ron Hanks in a June poll by 18 points.
Mr. Hanks is a former member of the Colorado House of Representatives. Though he was endorsed by the state Republican Party, he has raised less than $23,000, compared to more than $1 million by Mr. Hurd.
Other GOP names on the primary ballot include financial advisor Russ Andrews, Colorado State Board of Education member Stephen Varela, businessman Lew Webb, and entrepreneur Curtis McCrackin.
The Third District leans Republican according to the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball.
Boebert in Fourth District, But Not for Special Election
Mr. Frisch’s $13.1-million-plus receipts would have placed him head and shoulders above Ms. Boebert in the Third District. But the elevation is a little lower in Colorado’s Fourth.
Ms. Boebert’s receipts of $3.7 million put her well ahead of anyone else in the district that Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) vacated in March. She has benefited from almost $230,000 in outside spending, including $202,000 from the Freedom Caucus’s House Freedom Fund.
In the June 25 primary, Ms. Boebert will face parental rights activist and speaker Deborah Flora, who has raised more than $426,000. Rancher and former Colorado State Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, mortgage broker Peter Yu, and State Reps. Richard Holtorf and Mike Lynch will also appear on the Republican ballot.
Ms. Boebert will be absent from the ballot for a special election that same day, the winner of which will fill Mr. Buck’s seat for the remainder of the session.
Greg Lopez, who will not be on the primary ballot, was chosen by Republicans as their special election candidate after six rounds of voting by a vacancy committee in late March.
His opponents in the district, which is solidly Republican per Cook, include Democrat Trisha Calvarese, a former speechwriting and publications director for the AFL-CIO.
Unlike Mr. Lopez, Ms. Calvarese will also appear on the primary ballot. She’ll be alongside retired Marine officer Isaac “Ike” McCorkle, the district’s top fundraiser after Ms. Boebert, as well as addiction recovery activist John Padora, Jr.
One Republican hopeful who didn’t make the cut, former energy executive Floyd Trujillo, endorsed Ms. Flora.
A late May Kaplan Strategies poll has Ms. Boebert leading one GOP rival, Mr. Yu, by 35 points.
Much of the public polling funded by Democratic candidates shows their top candidate defeating Ms. Boebert in a hypothetical November matchup.
Colorado GOP Chair Vies for Fifth District
The Rocky Mountain State’s Fifth District, located in the vicinity of military and Christian hotbed Colorado Springs, is also fairly Republican, rated R+9 according to 2023 numbers from the Cook Political Report, and said to split 58.25 percent Republican to 41.75 percent Democrat by the Princeton Gerrymandering Project after its 2021 redistricting.
It, too, is losing a longstanding Republican representative—Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), first elected in 2006, isn’t seeking another term.
On the GOP ballot, the Colorado Republican Party’s chairman, Dave Williams, is seeking the nomination, though not without considerable controversy.
ProPublica reported that the state party spent almost $20,000 in late May to support Mr. Williams. The report followed a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission alleging Mr. Williams misused party funds to advance his candidacy.
Mr. Williams is facing Jeff Crank, a regional vice president for Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers’ network. Mr. Crank has so far outspent Mr. Williams by more than three-to-one. In addition, he has benefited from outside spending by America Leads Action, which has largely been funded by Walmart heir and former chair Rob Walton as well as conservative climate change entrepreneur Jay Faison.
Mr. Williams is running with the MAGA stamp of approval—backing from former President Trump, Rep. Boebert, and other conservative and Republican stalwarts.
By contrast, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams are among the more moderate Republicans who have endorsed Mr. Crank in his race in Colorado, a state that went from red to purple to blue in just a few decades.
On the Democratic ballot, River Gassen will face Joe Reagan. Ms. Gassen has an affiliation with the University of Colorado Colorado Springs’ BioFrontiers Center. She has been endorsed by Fourth District hopeful Mr. Padora, and the Colorado Working Families Party, among others.
Mr. Reagan is a U.S. Army veteran who has worked in the nonprofit sector. His supporters include Ret. Air Force Maj. Gen. Irv Halter.
Both Democrats have raised significantly less money than their top GOP rivals according to federal elections data.
Two Republicans Vie to Flip Evenly-Split District
Freshman Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-Colo.) will not have to deal with any challengers from her own party in the June 25 primary.
Yet, on the Republican side, two main candidates are competing to represent their party in the general election.
The district, which was created after the 2020 U.S. Census, is among the nation’s most evenly split. The Cook Political Report rates it “even,” while Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball has judged that it leans toward the Democrats.
Ms. Caraveo was ranked the 30th most bipartisan member of Congress by the Lugar Center.
The GOP hopefuls running in the district on June 25 include state Rep. Gabe Evans, an Army veteran and former police officer who received an endorsement from former President Trump.
His opponent, former state representative and retired physician Dr. Janak Joshi, got the nod from the state GOP.
Two other candidates, Joseph Andujo and Scott James, dropped out of the race.
Mr. Evans’s fundraising has far exceeded Dr. Joshi’s—but his numbers are in turn far short of Ms. Caraveo’s. She has more than $2.3 million in cash on hand to more than $225,000 in Mr. Evans’ coffers.
From The Epoch Times
