{"id":23003,"date":"2025-03-25T01:48:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T07:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-colorado-republicans-plan-to-navigate-the-town-hall-trap-this-time-around\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:23:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:23:09","slug":"how-colorado-republicans-plan-to-navigate-the-town-hall-trap-this-time-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/how-colorado-republicans-plan-to-navigate-the-town-hall-trap-this-time-around\/","title":{"rendered":"How Colorado Republicans plan to navigate the town hall trap this time around"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Scores
Scores of people attend a town hall at Harrison High School in Colorado Springs hosted by U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet on March, 20. (Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

COLORADO SPRINGS \u2013 Colorado Republicans are determined not to get caught in the town hall trap that helped sink the reelection bids of U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman in 2018 and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in 2020 as local and national Democrats mount a pressure campaign aimed at the state\u2019s most vulnerable members of Congress.<\/p>\n

Democrats are demanding that Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton hold an in-person town hall with his constituents, deploying the same tactics they used against Coffman and Gardner: a cardboard cutout of the congressman paired with relentless messaging.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction Republican whose 3rd Congressional District seat is considered less endangered in 2026, is also a target of Democrats.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lose-lose situation for Evans and Hurd, according to interviews with current and former Republican staffers. They can rebuff the needling and give Democrats an easy line of attack, or they can relent and contend with news stories about how they were shouted down by angry constituents.<\/p>\n

Gardner and Coffman, for instance, waited and waited, and were accused of hiding, before eventually relenting to the goading, leading to negative headlines and viral clips that only served to help build Democrats\u2019 narrative that they were out of touch with voters.<\/p>\n

\"Carolyn
Carolyn Hunter of Durango asks a question to \u201cCardboard Cory\u201d in August 2019 in Durango\u2019s Buckley Park. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The consensus among Republicans is that the wait-it-out approach is the best way to go for GOP members of Congress, filling the void with telephone and virtual town halls. Earlier this month, the National Republican Congressional Committee recommended as much to incumbents like Evans and Hurd, who have been in office for a little more than two months but already must begin gearing up for their 2026 reelection bids.<\/p>\n

Hurd heeded the advice and held a telephone town hall in recent days. Evans, who represents Colorado\u2019s 8th Congressional District, has signaled he will do the same.<\/p>\n

The strategy is based on experience.<\/p>\n

A senior aide to a former Republican member of Congress from Colorado told The Colorado Sun last week that it was a miscalculation on the part of the GOP to not call out the partisan motives of those who demanded that Coffman and Gardner hold in-person town hall meetings. The aide spoke to The Sun on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.<\/p>\n

Now, Republicans are more willing to say who they think is behind the town hall calls \u2013 people who were unlikely to ever support them anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know paid liberal groups have been taking over town halls,\u201d Evans\u2019 spokeswoman, Delanie Bomar, said in a written statement. She said Evans wants any meetings with constituents to be productive conversations and not shout fests, effectively saying that in-person town halls are out of the question.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Rep.-elect Gabe Evans, a Colorado Republican, speaks to the media on Nov. 11 in Thornton after unseating Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo in Colorado\u2019s 8th Congressional District. (Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

While there\u2019s no evidence that all, or even the majority, of people calling for Evans and Hurd to hold in-person town halls are paid Democratic operatives, many of those organizing those people are.<\/p>\n

ProgressNow Colorado, the liberal political nonprofit that doesn\u2019t disclose its donors, was behind the cardboard Coffman and Gardner cutouts. They\u2019ve now made one for Evans, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cRemember Cardboard Cory? Meet Better Gabe,\u201d said the subject line of the ProgressNow email unveiling the Evans effigy.<\/p>\n

ProgressNow even held an event Saturday in the congressman\u2019s district hoping to highlight how Evans hasn\u2019t held a town hall.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee and Colorado Democratic Party jointly purchased a billboard in the 8th District labeling Evans a \u201ccoward\u201d for refusing to hold a town hall.<\/p>\n

On Friday, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, a New York Democrat, also took a jab at Evans during an appearance with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, in Greeley. That\u2019s the heart of Evans\u2019 district.<\/p>\n

\"Rep.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke to a crowd of over 11,000 people in Greeley on March 21. (Kevin J. Beaty\/Denverite via the Colorado Capitol News Alliance)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI hear that you have a representative who has not done a town hall,\u201d said Ocasio-Cortez, which elicited boos from the crowd. \u201cIf this is the best that you all are getting, I think you deserve better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The justification for telephone and virtual town halls<\/div>\n

Republicans feel they can justify doing telephone and virtual town halls instead of in-person events because they reach more people and are more representative of the electorate; can be more cost effective; and come without personal security risks.<\/p>\n

From a political perspective, they\u2019re also better because callers can be screened and those who duck the vetting can be cut off.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy recommendation with all the real security threats would be focus on tele-town halls because you can connect with such a large audience, focus on the issues and not worry about the people who are distracting or interrupting,\u201d said Jeff Small, the former chief of staff to Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert who is now a principal at the 76 Group, a conservative political firm.<\/p>\n

Tyler Sandberg, a Republican operative who ran Coffman\u2019s 2018 campaign, agrees, but said GOP campaigns should be more lenient when screening telephone town hall callers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t screen things to make them sterile,\u201d he said. \u201cIf someone is frustrated, have it out. You can\u2019t run from anger. That only makes it build.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Aurora, at a campaign office in Greenwood Village on Oct. 30, 2018. Coffman was calling voters a few days before the 2018 election, which he lost, ending his long tenure in Congress. He is now mayor of Aurora. (Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Democratic strategist Ian Silverii was one of the architects of the town hall pressure campaigns against Coffman and Gardner. At the time, he was leading ProgressNow Colorado. He\u2019s also married to U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood, the Democrat who represents Colorado\u2019s 7th Congressional District.<\/p>\n

Silverii doesn\u2019t think Republicans\u2019 wait-it-out strategy will work.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t do your town hall, people start protesting you at the airport, your official offices,\u201d he said. \u201cThe tension just builds up \u2013 the resentment builds up. If you don\u2019t face the music and justify what you\u2019re doing and explain yourself to your voters, you\u2019re done for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silverii also said a telephone or virtual town hall won\u2019t work as a substitute.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s totally their right,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s going to cost you.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the one hand, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, recently held a virtual town hall and defended them as the best way to reach the most constituents. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver, is also a frequent tele-town hall user.<\/p>\n

\"A
A screenshot of U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., during a recent telephone town hall.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On the other hand, there are signs Silverii is right that Evans can\u2019t wait it out forever.<\/p>\n

Evans, a former state lawmaker, visited the Colorado Senate last week, where a handful of Democratic senators took the opportunity to confront him about Republican efforts to slash Medicaid funding.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Cathy Kipp, D-Fort Collins, raised her voice as she chastised Evans, who responded with a half-grin-half-grimace.<\/p>\n

State Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, went a step further, needling Evans during a speech on the Senate floor during an immigration-centered speech on Latino\/a Advocacy Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad that he has made time (to be here),\u201d Gonzales said. \u201cAnd I hope that he will also visit with his constituents while he is here to talk with them about what he hopes to accomplish on these issues. I also personally really want to understand when he\u2019s going to have his next town hall.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats\u2019 town hall blitz<\/div>\n

Most of Colorado\u2019s Democratic members of Congress, meanwhile, have been on an in-person town hall blitz across the state.<\/p>\n

That serves two purposes: adding pressure to their Republican colleagues to do the same thing while also acknowledging calls from their increasingly frustrated base to do more to push back against the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

At U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet\u2019s in-person town hall Thursday night in Colorado Springs, for instance, headlines touting the Colorado Democrat\u2019s battles against the Trump administration were shown to attendees before he took the stage. Bennet, who has faced criticism for voting in favor of some of Trump\u2019s political appointees, also held town halls last week in Greeley and Golden.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., speaks to the scores of people who attend his town hall at Harrison High School in Colorado Springs on March, 20. (Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Colorado Springs crowd appeared uniformly friendly to Bennet, albeit frustrated with how he and other Democrats have responded to Trump\u2019s second presidency.<\/p>\n

Audience members selected at random asked questions about America\u2019s crumbling international standing, the Trump administration\u2019s refusal to follow court orders, and how Democrats can convey a stronger anti-Trump message.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to hear what we can do to stop the chaos and fight what\u2019s happening in this country,\u201d Kathryn Cavanaugh-Partridge, a 64-year-old Monument Democrat, said before the Colorado Springs town hall. \u201cI\u2019d like to see somebody stand up and be a rallying cry and tell us whatever we should be doing out here. I\u2019ve been to rallies up in Denver. I\u2019m trying to get involved and do something. I don\u2019t think the message is getting out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennet acknowledged the frustrations of those at the town hall \u2013 \u201cI do think the Democratic Party needs to think very hard about how we lost to this guy\u201d \u2013 and urged them to get involved, either through activist groups or by donating to Democratic candidates and causes.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., speaks to the scores of people who attend his town hall at Harrison High School in Colorado Springs on March, 20. (Jesse Paul\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Some in the crowd sounded unsatisfied.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere you see opportunities where you think I can fight harder,\u201d Bennet said, \u201cI want you to let me know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFight harder!\u201d a chorus of people shouted back.<\/p>\n

Town hall attendees seemed to suggest that if Trump and his allies weren\u2019t following the rules \u2013 from the traditional political norms to court orders \u2013 why should Democrats?<\/p>\n

Bennet said trying to match Republicans\u2019 tactics would be a mistake for his party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the answer to Donald Trump\u2019s unconstitutional behavior is to have our own unconstitutional behavior,\u201d he told reporters after the town hall. \u201cI think that kind of a race to the bottom is only going to destroy our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lucas Brady Woods of KUNC contributed to this report<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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