PUEBLO — U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s name will be first on the June 25 Republican primary ballot in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District after she won the district’s GOP nominating assembly Friday.
Boebert won 41% of the delegate vote, enough to prevent former state Sen. Ted Harvey of Highlands Ranch from appearing on the ballot. He received about 26% of the delegate vote, but needed 30% to make the ballot.
Two other candidates — former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling and state Rep. Richard Holtorf of Akron — received 18% and 15% of the vote, respectively. They will be on the ballot as long as the voter signatures they collected to qualify for the primary are approved by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
Congressional candidates must collect 1,500 signatures from voters in their party in their district to make the ballot.
Candidates who gather petition signatures to make the ballot and also go through the nominating assembly need 10% of the delegate vote to advance. Harvey didn’t collect signatures, so he had to win at least 30% of the assembly vote to make the ballot.
Boebert also collected signatures to make the ballot, and those were approved last month by the Secretary of State’s Office.
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The 4th District’s nominating assembly was held in Pueblo. There were 527 delegates — party insiders elected through precinct caucuses and county assemblies — who voted.
Also on the Republican primary ballot in the 4th District will be conservative commentator Deborah Flora, who collected signatures and opted against going through the GOP nominating assembly. Republicans state Rep. Mike Lynch, former congressional staffer Chris Phelen, and businessmen Floyd Trujillo and Peter Yu gathered signatures to make the ballot, too, though the Secretary of State’s Office hasn’t verified their signatures yet.
Colorado’s 4th District is a Republican stronghold that includes Douglas County and Loveland and spans the Eastern Plains. Until March 22 it was represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, who resigned before the end of his term in January.
There will also be a special election June 25 to determine who serves out the rest of Buck’s term. The Republican nominee for that contest is former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez. However, he isn’t running in the June primary.
Because the 4th District is so favorable to Republicans, Lopez is the overwhelming favorite to win the special election and whoever wins the primary will likely win the November general election, too.
In a fiery speech to the 4th District nominating assembly delegates, Boebert on Friday invoked her faith and her endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
“If you are going to fight the good fight of faith, then you better be ready for that battle,” Boebert said. “I’m honored to have President Trump’s endorsement and honored even more to have your support.”
She also talked about her work in Washington.
“It takes force to get something done. And when I’m up there, I sure ain’t quiet,” she said. “Telling them what Colorado needs and how to deliver your tax dollars back to Colorado. Securing infrastructure and water projects supporting our farmers and ranchers.”
Boebert acknowledged her emergency surgery this week to remove a blood clot from her leg.
“I said ‘I don’t care if I have to go to that assembly on a stretcher,’” Boebert said. “I had a lot of folks in D.C. tell me, ‘Hey, here’s your out, you had surgery. You don’t have to go, it’s not worth the risk.’ Well, I politely told them to shove it.”
Holtorf played a prerecorded video at the assembly in which he took a swipe at his competitors, saving his sharpest words for Boebert.
“I’m not a carpetbagger from Rifle, Colorado,” he said, a dig at how Boebert moved from the Western Slope to Windsor earlier this year to improve her reelection chances. She currently represents the 3rd Congressional District, which is mostly on the western half of the state.
“I’m not an establishment candidate from the Eastern Plains,” Holtorf said, apparently referring to Sonnenberg, who now serves as a Logan County commissioner.
Sonnenberg, in his speech, talked about his agricultural experience and how he is a fourth-generation farmer, along with his legislative work.
Harvey was seen as an assembly favorite heading into Friday. He took the stage at the Colorado State Fairgrounds as dozens of his supporters gathered on the floor below him, and emphasized how he was the only Republican 4th District candidate trying to make the ballot through the assembly process alone. Like the other candidates, he also criticized the federal government.
“We are not at war with each other here,” Harvey said. “In Colorado, we are at war with the bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.”
He and Boebert chatted before the results were announced.
“I think Lauren is the odds-on favorite after coming out of here with 40%,” Harvey told The Sun after the results were announced.
Democrats will select their nominees for the 4th District primary Thursday.
Varela, Hanks win 3rd Congressional District GOP primary nominations
Stephen Varela and Ron Hanks made the 3rd Congressional District Republican primary ballot, receiving 33.5% and 32% of the delegate vote, respectively.
Carbondale investor Russ Andrews received nearly 18% of the vote and will make the ballot if his petition signatures are certified.
Varela is a Colorado Board of Education member who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate in 2022. Hanks is a former state House member who lost the GOP U.S. Senate nomination in 2022.
Delta County business owner Curtis McCrackin is already on the 3rd District ballot after submitting enough petition signatures.
Fruita resident Joe Granado, Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd and Durango resident Lew Webb submitted petition signatures and are waiting for them to be approved by the Colorado Secretary of State.
Three others nominated Friday — Robin Heid, a former professional skydiver, Austin O’Connell, a Glenwood Springs teacher, and Sampson Ramirez, a former housing counselor — failed to make the ballot.The winner of that contest will take on former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch, a Democrat who lost to current 3rd District Rep. Lauren Boebert by 546 votes. Frisch is the third highest fundraiser among U.S. House candidates this election cycle, and had more than $5 million in cash at the end of the year.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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