Gabe Evans and Janak Joshi face off ahead of 8th Congressional District Republican primary

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Janak Joshi, a former state representative running in the Republican primary in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District, compared the circumstances that led to him to surrender his medical license to the criminal prosecution that led to Donald Trump’s felony conviction last week.

“It’s a very similar situation,” he said Saturday at the Republican Rumble debate hosted by the Republican Women of Weld at the Grizzly Rose.

Joshi said he surrendered his license in 2008 after being admonished by Colorado Board of Medical Examiners a year earlier and ordered to undergo additional training because he felt the training was unnecessary and his attorney said fighting the order would have cost $100,000. Being near retirement age, Joshi decided to stop practicing medicine.

“I was going to fight it and I would have won,” he said, calling patient-care allegations level against him “frivolous.”

Even though it’s been more than 15 years since Joshi, who is in his mid-70s, was a practicing doctor, he continues to present himself as a physician in campaigns ads and materials, in many of which he’s wearing a lab coat and has a stethoscope draped around his neck.

Asked if it was misleading to present himself as a doctor, Joshi said no, because he still has his medical degree.

Joshi faced off against state Rep. Gabe Evans, the other Republican running in the GOP primary in the 8th District, during the debate Saturday. The Fort Lupton lawmaker was pressed on why he wavered when answering a question earlier this year about whether he thinks the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Donald Trump. (Evans replied “no-ish.”)

“Look at the Hunter Biden laptop story in October,” Evans said. “That’s when that broke. And if you went on social media, if you went on a lot of the big tech sites, what you would see is that would be flagged as fake news, false news, fact-checked. That was all squelched and suppressed until after the election. That information being kept away from the voters prior to the election was an act of interference in that election.”

Joshi said that while every election has its irregularities, “I’m focused on the current election.”

“I’m not going to waste my time on anything else right now,” he said.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EVANS-JOSHI DEBATE

Some other big moments from the Evans-Joshi debate:

• Joshi said he supports a national abortion ban with no exceptions. Evans said it should be left up to states, but that he believes abortion should be banned except in cases of rape, incest or when a mother’s life is at risk.
• Both Evans and Joshi said the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program should remain in place and that people who have received deportation protections under that Obama-era initiative should be allowed to remain in the U.S.
• Evans said he opposes the Colorado GOP’s attempt to block unaffiliated voters from participating in Republican primaries — “tell me how you’re going to win independents,” he said — while Joshi said he supports it. 
• Joshi said he would win the general election in the 8th District against Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo by touting his medical, legislative and life experiences. Evans said he would lean on his deep ties to the toss-up district. (Joshi recently moved into the district, registering to vote there in February.) 
• Both Joshi and Evans said they will vote for Trump in November despite his felony convictions last week.

ENDORSEMENT

Donald Trump endorsed Evans on Monday, saying he will be “an INCREDIBLE fighter in Congress.” Evans thanked the former president, saying on social media: “I’ll always stand up for America First and I’ll always fight to end sanctuary city and leftist policies that erode public safety and increase the cost of living.”

The endorsement will help Evans in his battle against Joshi, but could present a problem in the general election given the 8th District is a toss-up. Trump won in the district by 2 percentage points in 2016, but voters there have trended toward Democrats since.

ELECTION 2024

4th Congressional District Republican primary and special election debate highlights

The Republican Rumble also featured a debate among five of the six Republicans running in the 4th Congressional District. U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was the one candidate who declined to attend.

Here are the highlights from that face-off:

• The candidates were asked how they differ from Boebert and how they planned to beat her in the June 25 primary. While they mostly dodged the second part of the question, state Rep. Mike Lynch said he “would never abandon my district — that separates us pretty boldly.” Conservative commentator Deborah Flora said she differs from the congresswoman in that “I want to grow the movement of freedom, not get our party down to even smaller than the 24% it already is.” State Rep. Richard Holtorf said unlike Boebert, he doesn’t need celebrity status. “You don’t want somebody that wants to go write a book,” he said.
• When asked about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Flora said it shouldn’t be continued because it’s an incentive for people to enter the U.S. illegally. Former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg and Holtorf said the Obama-era initiative should remain. 
• Asked about Trump’s plan to impose a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and a 10% tariff on all other imported goods, Sonnenberg, Lynch and businessman Peter Yu said they oppose the trade plan. Holtorf said he supports Trump’s plan, while Flora indicated she would only support tariffs on China. 
• All five candidates said there’s nothing that would prevent them from voting for Trump in November, including any convictions in the remaining cases he faces. 

We also asked the candidates if they thought it was inappropriate for the Colorado GOP to endorse Boebert in their race. Everyone emphatically said yes, except for Sonnenberg.

“You know that’s a challenging question,” he said. “People drove hundreds of miles to go to the state convention, and those people voted to give our state GOP that authority. I disagree with it. I think we ought to unify as a party and support all of our candidates. But it’s hard for me to say,
‘Leadership and GOP, what those people voted for, we shouldn’t care about.’”

CD4 SPECIAL ELECTION DEBATE

There was also a debate Saturday for the candidates running in the June 25 special election in the 4th District that will determine who serves out the rest of former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck’s term. Republican Greg Lopez, a former Parker mayor, dropped out of the debate with about 24 hours notice after initially agreeing in April to appear at the event.

Lopez said he dropped out because the Women of Weld, which hosted the debate, refused to endorse him in advance of the gathering. The group said an endorsement in advance of the debate would be inappropriate because the Democratic and third-party special election candidates were participating.

Democrat Trisha Calvarese, a former speechwriter and congressional staffer, made some interesting remarks during the debate, though. Here are the highlights:

• Asked how she planned to win in the Republican stronghold 4th District as a pro-abortion rights, pro-Medicare for All, pro-union Democrat, Calvarese said she’s “pro-families. I am pro people who work for a living.” She said she planned on winning over unaffiliated voters, who make up the largest share of the electorate in the district, which backed Buck by more than 20 percentage points in the last two election cycles.
• Calvarese said she will vote for Joe Biden in November, that she supports the federal legalization of marijuana and that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito should recuse himself from cases involving Jan. 6 rioters. 

Calvarese also reiterated her position that the so-called Leahy rule should apply to U.S. aid to Israel. The rule, named after former Democratic U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, prohibits military assistance to countries that have committed a gross violation of human rights.

We asked if Israel’s actions thus far have triggered the rule.

“Possibly, possibly not,” she said. “I’d have to dig into it. I’d have to look at that. I don’t know the Leahy rule exactly as it is applied.”

STORY: Where Republican candidates in the 4th Congressional District stand on big issues

STORY: Where Democratic candidates in the 4th Congressional District stand on big issues

THE DENVER POST: Republican Greg Lopez skips debate in Eastern Plains congressional contest

WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEK

• La Plata County Republicans are holding a debate tonight with GOP candidates for the 3rd Congressional District. It runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and will be held in Durango. The debate will be broadcast on Zoom.
• Gov. Jared Polis has through Friday to sign or veto bills passed during the 2024 legislative session, or to let them become law without his signature. Pressure is building on the governor over pending Senate Bill 210, a broad elections bill that would prevent — at least for several years — statewide ranked-choice from going into effect even if it’s approved by voters in November.
• The Legislative Audit Committee meets at 9 a.m. Monday in the Old Supreme Court room at the Colorado Capitol. View the committee’s agenda here.

THE POLITICAL TICKER

ENDORSEMENTS

House Speaker Julie McCluskie, D-Dillon, has endorsed Denver attorney Sean Camacho in his primary bid to unseat state Rep. Elisabeth Epps, D-Denver, in House District 6.

3RD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Rocky Mountain Values PAC has reported spending more than $134,000 on TV, radio, print and digital ads, as well as mailers, in the 3rd Congressional District boosting the profile of former state Rep. Ron Hanks and attacking Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd in the six-way Republican primary. The Democratic political action committee appears to believe Hanks, an election denier, will be easier for Democratic nominee Adam Frisch to beat in November. Read our original story on the spending strategy here.

ABORTION BALLOT MEASURE

The abortion rights nonprofit Cobalt is reserving TV ad time for October in support of its ballot measure that would change the Colorado Constitution to guarantee abortion access and lift a ban on public funds being used for abortion. Meanwhile, a new issue committee, Pro-Life Colorado Fund, registered last week to oppose the measure. The committee is registered to the building that houses the Colorado Catholic Conference.

KEN BUCK

Former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck appeared on “The Daily Show” on Monday night as the featured guest with host Jon Stewart. The Windsor Republican talked about his exit from Congress in March, the hold former President Donald Trump has over the GOP and Trump’s recent felony convictions.

READ MORE

• Where Republican candidates in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District stand on big issues
• A group helps Colorado teens write laws. Now it’s looking for its next crop of students.
• Ballots for Colorado’s June 25 primary are being sent out. Here’s what you need to know to vote.
• A Colorado Supreme Court ruling poked a hole in ski resorts’ liability protections. What’s next?
• In search of funding for child care, two Colorado regions pursue special taxing districts
  — Chalkbeat
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• Colorado clinics, mental health providers are seeing more uninsured patients — and they’re worried that’s the new normal
  — The Denver Post 🔑

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

THE BIG STORY

Republican candidate in toss-up state House race is disqualified

If you want to understand the Republican dysfunction in Colorado heading into the 2024 election, look no further than House District 61.

The toss-up district is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Eliza Hamrick of Centennial. She won in 2022 by fewer than 1,200 votes in the district that straddles the line between Arapahoe and Douglas counties.

Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams last year called Hamrick one of his 11 most-wanted Democrats in 2024 as the party battles its way out of a 46-19 supermajority in the House. But right now, Republicans don’t even have a candidate in the district.

That’s because Luis A. Moy, who was supposed to be the Republican nominee in the district, was disqualified from running last week by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office after he didn’t submit a candidate affidavit or a personal financial disclosure as required by law.

Moy’s name will still appear on the GOP primary ballot in the district —he’s the only Republican running for the seat — but any votes cast for him will be invalidated and thus not counted.

The Secretary of State’s Office says Republicans can still put forth a candidate for the general election by convening a vacancy committee and selecting a general election nominee. However, whoever gets the nod will be months behind in fundraising and campaigning.

TWO OTHER DISQUALIFIED CANDIDATES

The Secretary of State’s Office disqualified two other legislative primary candidates last week: Republican Robert Tate in Senate District 29 and Democrat Charles Alvarado in House District 63.

Tate was disqualified for failing to submit a candidate affidavit or a personal financial disclosure, while Alvarado was disqualified for failing to submit a personal financial disclosure.

House District 63 in northeastern Colorado is one of the state’s most Republican-leaning legislative districts, while Senate District 29 in Aurora is an overwhelmingly Democratic district.

GOP ENDORSES MORE CANDIDATES

Tate was on a list of candidates endorsed by the Colorado GOP in an email sent Sunday.

Some other notable party endorsements:

• Chairman Dave Williams, who is running in the 5th Congressional District
• Tim Arvidson, a technology consultant who is running in the GOP primary against Rep. Lisa Frizell, R-Castle Rock, in Senate District 2
• Rex Tonkins, the husband of El Paso County GOP Chair Vickie Tonkins and a Williams ally, in his Senate District 10 primary bid against Sen. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs
• Entrepreneur Natalie Abshier in her Senate District 23 primary bid against Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton
• Jan Koester and Bill Garlington in their House District 21 primary bid against Rep. Mary Bradfield, R-Colorado Springs

Worth noting: We’re seeing several state-level super PACs supporting Liston, Kirkmeyer, Frizell, Bradfield and some of the other Republicans who aren’t on the GOP endorsement list. Stay tuned for more on that Friday.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

• Lara Trump, co-chair of Republican National Committee, slams U.S. Senate candidate Larry Hogan for accepting hush-money verdict
  — The Baltimore Banner
• Will women voters care about Trump’s conviction?
  — The 19th
• Oregon State Hospital has backlog of guilty except for insanity patients deemed ready for discharge
  — The Oregonian 🔑
• Years after Hurricane Irma, some homeowners still waiting to get back into homes after delays with state program
  — WTSP-TV

🔑 = source has article meter or paywall

Corrections & Clarifications

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Type of Story: News

Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.