WEEK OF APRIL 4, 2024
VOLUME 129 | ISSUE 6
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Themes from Lone Tree forum of GOP candidates for Congress
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BY MCKENNA HARFORD MHARFORD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
In the still crowded race for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, Republican candidates sparred in a panel in Douglas County, hoping to capture voters’ attention ahead of primaries in June. U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, Colorado Rep. Richard Holtorf, Deborah Flora, Chris Phelen and former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg participated in the panel attended by a few hundred potential voters. Colorado Rep. Mike Lynch had planned to attend, but stayed at the capitol to vote on gun legislation. The panel’s hosts, Douglas County Republican Women, said they invited all of the candidates, but requested they have received at least $25,000 in individual contributions. “We really want to hear from the candidates that are super serious about this and have a great chance of success,” Deborah Mulvey, president of the Douglas County Republican Women, said. Here are a few themes of the panel that took place in late March: Republican unity or accountability?
At multiple points throughout the night, candidates took swipes at Boe-
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From left, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, Colorado Rep. Richard Holtorf, Deborah Flora, Chris Phelen and former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg participate in a panel hosted by the PHOTO BY MCKENNA HARFORD Douglas County Republican Women on March 27 in Lone Tree.
bert for her history of publicly taking fellow conservatives to task, including the vote to remove former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican. McCarthy was voted out by a narrow margin last year. Most of the candidates said it’s crucial for Republicans should stand together against Democrats and avoid attacking each other. “I would never, ever vote with the Democrats to oust a Republican speaker,” Sonnenberg said. “You vote with your caucus on the policy stuff and then you work in a backroom to
figure out if you have an issue with the president or the speaker and you deal with it as a caucus.” Holtorf echoed Sonnenberg, and said that accountability issues should be handled strategically. “When Republicans fight Republicans, Democrats win,” he said. Flora said she is not the “purge and purify” type and is not interested in crossing the aisle to work with Democrats, but rather building the conservative coalition. “This is a big tent with our tent
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