4 takeaways from Lauren Boebert's first debate with GOP challengers

The crowded pool of Republican candidates for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District met for the first time Thursday as the race to replace outgoing Rep. Ken Buck begins.

It was also the first major forum in which Rep. Lauren Boebert faced her opponents — and her potential voters — as she tries to make the case for her candidacy in a new district across the state from her current one.

“I’m here to earn your support and earn your vote,” Boebert said. “This is not a coronation.”

In the end, Boebert fell short with the crowd, mostly composed of candidates’ family members, staff and people involved with the local Republican party. She got fifth-place among nine candidates in the evening’s straw poll, placing her behind Logan County commissioner and former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, state Rep. Mike Lynch, radio host Deborah Flora and state Rep. Richard Holtorf, in that order.

The race is open this year after Buck announced his retirement late last year. It immediately became a crowded race, and was shaken up even further when Boebert joined in late December. In 2022, Boebert barely held on to her seat when challenged by Democrat Adam Frisch, and this year would likely have been a rematch if she survived a primary challenge. Boebert, citing a desire for a “fresh start” for her family after her divorce, moved into the much more Republican-leaning 4th District.

Whoever wins the Republican primary is all but certain to win in the general election. The district covers the Eastern Plains and includes some communities along the Interstate 25 corridor.

Thursday’s debate was hosted by the Republican Women of Weld at the Fort Lupton Recreation Center, which actually sits in the 8th Congressional District but is 10 miles from the border between the two districts. A debate among the Republicans for the 8th District seat immediately preceded the 4th District debate. State Rep. Gabe Evans beat out Scott James, a Weld County commissioner, and Joe Andujo in a straw poll.

The entire event was streamed on the Republican Women of Weld’s Facebook page.

Colorado’s congressional primaries are on June 25.

Here are four takeaways from the 4th District debate.

Republican candidates for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District debate in Fort Lupton on Jan. 25, 2024. The candidates are, from left, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, Trent Leisy, Deborah Flora, state Rep. Mike Lynch, Chris Phelan, former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, former state Sen. Ted Harvey, Peter Yu, and state Rep. Richard Holtorf. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline)

Boebert grilled on district switch

As expected, Boebert faced sharp questions about her decision to move into a new congressional district to escape a rematch with Frisch.

“Could you give the definition of carpetbagger?” Lynch asked Boebert.

Flora also asked a similar version of the question and referenced Boebert’s criticism of a Democratic opponent from the 2022 cycle who lived outside of the 3rd Congressional District post-redistricting.

Boebert said she is proud to be Weld County’s “newest resident.”

“My boys and I needed a fresh start. That’s been very public of what home life looked like,” she said. Boebert is newly divorced, and her ex-husband was recently arrested for alleged domestic violence incidents involving her and her son.

“I tried to put it into a very pretty package and bring my ex-husband lots of honor. But since there is nothing private about my personal life, it is out there and my boys need some freedom from what has been going on,” she said.

But in a telling moment, no other candidate said they would support Boebert in the primary if they were not running. Four people said they would support Sonnenberg.

Boebert also argued that by switching districts, it puts Republicans in a stronger position to hold on to the 3rd District. Jeff Hurd, a remaining Republican in that race, has strong backing from establishment members of the party.

Split support for federal abortion ban

The candidates were split on whether they would support an abortion ban at the federal level following the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision that vacated the national right to abortion.

Since the decision, states have enacted various laws to restrict or protect abortion access. In Colorado, lawmakers have expanded protections and put protections for reproductive care, including abortion, into state statute. This year, there could be competing ballot measures in the state to either put the right to abortion in the state Constitution or ban it outright. Colorado voters have historically voted against bans.

Holtorf, Lynch, Weld County Council member Trent Leisy, Chris Phelan and Peter Yu all said abortion policy should be left to the states.

“The last thing you want is the federal government running your life. The same way you don’t want the government to tell you to get the vaccine,” Yu said. “Regardless of how heinous you think abortion is, you don’t want the federal government telling you how to live your life.”

Boebert, Flora and former state Sen. Ted Harvey and Sonnenberg said they would vote in favor of national restrictions on abortion.

“Any legislation that comes in front of me to vote on that limits abortion, I will vote in favor of it,” Boebert said.

‘Securing the border’ the top issue

There was wide agreement among the candidates that immigration and border security is a priority. They cited a need to prevent migrants and drug traffickers from crossing the southern border.

“The border is the number one thing we have to get under control right now, primarily because of the flow of fentanyl that we see coming in and killing our citizens,” Lynch said. “Not only do we need to shut the border, but we need to modify and change and make (the laws more strict).”

Sonnenberg called immigration a “humanitarian issue” because of the number of migrants being transported to cities, including Denver, without resources to be safely and adequately housed.

There were fewer concrete ideas about how to handle the millions of undocumented immigrants currently living in the country. Holtorf said there should be a pathway to citizenship through military service or a 10-year period of employment. For Flora, the country needs to “secure the border” and stop funding sanctuary cities before figuring out how to proceed with immigrants already here.

“We always do this backwards. We always talk about how we’re going to reform immigration while the border is open,” she said. “If we do it in the wrong order, it will continue to be an incentive.”

Republican candidates for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District during a debate in Fort Lupton on Jan. 25, 2024, were asked if they had ever been arrested. Raising their hand to indicate “yes” were, from left, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, Trent Leisy, state Rep. Mike Lynch, Chris Phelan, former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg and state Rep. Richard Holtorf. (Screenshot from Republican Women of Weld’s Facebook)

Arrest records draw crowd laughter

Six of the nine candidates on Thursday raised their hand in response to a question of whether they have been arrested at some point.

That included Boebert, Holtorf, Leisy, Lynch, Phelan and Sonnenberg.

The question was prompted by recent news of Lynch’s 2022 arrest for drunk driving. He stepped down this week as the state House minority leader amid the revelations.

“We need people (in the seat) that understand people are human and make mistakes. It’s not about how you get knocked down and the mistake you make. It’s how you get back on your feet, learn from that and move forward,” Lynch said.

The crowd and candidates laughed during the question, and candidates injected humor into the explanation of their arrests.

“I’ve been arrested twice and every time it was for fighting, because somebody needed a little attitude adjustment,” Holtorf said. “I told my dad both times that I was winning until the cops showed up.”

Boebert said she had been arrested for missing a court date for a driving-related charge, but she did not mention arrests for harassment, disorderly conduct and failure to appear.

Sonnenberg said he was arrested as a 19-year-old for speeding.

Leisy was arrested for a harassment incident involving a child in 2016, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.