Cory Gardner reentered Colorado’s political conversation Wednesday to endorse former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg in the crowded Republican primary in the state’s 4th Congressional District, a race that includes U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert.
“Jerry Sonnenberg is the conservative conscience of the 4th Congressional District,” Gardner, a former U.S. senator from eastern Colorado who lost his reelection bid in 2020, said in a written statement. “He will be a passionate and dedicated warrior for our nation and our shared conservative values.”
Gardner represented the 4th District from 2011 to 2015 before he was elected to the Senate. He’s mostly shied away from the public spotlight since leaving Congress in early 2021, making his endorsement more notable.
The endorsement also highlights how the 4th District race is splitting Republicans after the contest was scrambled in December when Boebert ditched her reelection bid in a district that’s mostly on the other side of the state to improve her political fortunes.
Additionally, Gardner’s support of Sonnenberg emphasizes how movers and shakers in the 4th District are hardly welcoming Boebert with open arms.
Sonnenberg and Boebert are among roughly a dozen GOP candidates running to represent the 4th District after U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, R-Windsor, announced in November he wouldn’t run for reelection in 2024. The district spans the Eastern Plains into Loveland and Douglas County and is considered the most favorable to Republicans of any of the state’s eight congressional districts.
Sonnenberg, who is currently serving as a Logan County commissioner, has won over the support of a who’s who of local Republicans, from county commissioners to current and former lawmakers. He was also endorsed Wednesday by former Colorado U.S. Sens. Wayne Allard and Hank Brown, both Republicans. (Allard and Brown represented the 4th District, too, before being elected to the Senate.)
Boebert, meanwhile, is backed by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, who called the congresswoman a “relentless force for conservative governance.”
She also has a national following — and a national donor base. Boebert is expected to have the support of several sitting Republican U.S. House members from other states, as well.
Buck has not endorsed a successor.
Given how crowded the Republican primary is in the 4th District, name recognition alone may help Boebert win her party’s nomination. One of the biggest threats to the congresswoman is a shrinking primary field or support consolidating around one of her opponents.
Gardner’s endorsement of Sonnenberg is a step in that direction.
Gardner was the face of the Republican party in Colorado before he lost his Senate reelection bid in 2020 to former Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat. He campaigned that year alongside Boebert and praised her. (Gardner didn’t mention Boebert in his endorsement of Sonnenberg.)
Since then, Gardner has done work for some marijuana and cryptocurrency trade groups. He was co-chair of the political action committee supporting the 2024 presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican.
Scott has since exited the race and endorsed former President Donald Trump.
Gardner has national fundraising connections as a former chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and through his leadership PAC, Project West PAC. The PAC gave $10,000 — the maximum amount allowed — to Sonnenberg’s campaign in December, days before Boebert entered the race.
Colorado’s congressional primary elections will be held June 25.
Colorado Sun correspondent Sandra Fish contributed to this report.