{"id":30850,"date":"2023-11-05T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/some-republicans-looking-for-a-boebert-alternative-ahead-of-2024\/"},"modified":"2023-11-05T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T14:00:00","slug":"some-republicans-looking-for-a-boebert-alternative-ahead-of-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/some-republicans-looking-for-a-boebert-alternative-ahead-of-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Republicans looking for a Boebert alternative ahead of 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mesa
Mesa County is part of the 3rd Congressional District, in which incumbent Republican Loren Boebert is in a race that\u2019s too close to call against Democrat challenger Adam Frisch. Signs of support for her in and around Grand Junction, including here on Hwy. 50 south of the city, are hard to miss. (Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News)<\/span>Hart Van Denburg\/CPR News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

County commissioners, donors and the state\u2019s last Republican governor have come out to support attorney Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction in his primary challenge to represent Colorado\u2019s 3rd district.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the 3rd congressional district deserves a sincere and hardworking member of Congress who will advance Colorado values with character and with integrity,\u201d Hurd told CPR News<\/em>. But he readily acknowledges how difficult it is to unseat an incumbent. \u201cI recognize that I\u2019m definitely the underdog here, at least to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he thinks people are hungry for a different approach. \u201cSomeone who doesn\u2019t demonize those who disagree, and someone who is a serious negotiator on issues that matter to Colorado.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hurd has never run for office before and lacks the name recognition Boebert has. But that name recognition may be doing her more harm than good with some voters these days.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at what happened in the last general election. The Republican voters, they decided they weren\u2019t going to vote for personalities, and the Democrats decided they were going to vote against personalities,\u201d Delta County Commissioner Don Suppes said. \u201cI think we reached the point that we need a statesman to run for this seat and we need somebody that\u2019s not going to have any external baggage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suppes is among the growing handful of local officials on the Western Slope who\u2019ve officially endorsed Hurd. Others include Rio Blanco County Commissioner Ty Gates and Mesa County commissioners Bobbie Daniel and Cody Davis. Even more prominently, Bill Owens, governor of Colorado from 1999 to 2007, announced he\u2019s backing Hurd over Boebert.<\/p>\n

For many of them, the final straw was what\u2019s become known as \u201cthe Beetlejuice incident,\u201d when the second-term congresswoman was recorded carrying on at a showing of the musical at Denver\u2019s Buell Theater.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last two-and-a-half years, I\u2019ve done my best to defend the record of Congresswoman Boebert,\u201d said Mesa County commissioner Cody Davis. \u201cHaven\u2019t always been a fan of her style by any means. But what she did at Beetlejuice \u2026 it wasn\u2019t a simple mistake. I\u2019ve had a lot of supporters of Lauren reach out to me: \u2018Well, she made this mistake, worship forgiveness,\u2019 all of this. But, to be honest, this wasn\u2019t just a simple mistake. This was kind of a violent departure from normal, from statesmanship, from character \u2026 you name it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with endorsements, money has poured in to back his challenge. Hurd reported raising over $412,000 in the most recent fundraising quarter after jumping into the race on August 16. Some of those contributions came from well known Republicans, like former Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers and former University of Colorado President Bruce Benson.<\/p>\n

However, while Boebert\u2019s night at the musical has drawn the most attention lately, another matter factors into the calculus for Suppes \u2013 546. That\u2019s the number of votes Boebert won by in 2022 in a district that by most measures leans heavily Republican.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 3rd Congressional District is a pretty important district. The Western Slope of Colorado controls a lot of water, controls a lot of energy, and we need a good reasonable voice in Washington, D.C. The congresswoman barely won her race last year and I don\u2019t see those voters coming back after the issue at the theater,\u201d said Suppes.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think they\u2019re speaking for themselves\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The string of endorsements from current and former elected Republicans comes well ahead of the June 25 primary election, giving voters months to decide if they\u2019ll follow those party leaders into Hurd\u2019s camp or stick with the incumbent.<\/p>\n

Mesa County is the biggest population center for Republican voters in this vast district, which covers the western side of the state and stretches as far southeast as Las Animas and Otero counties. Mesa has more than 110,000 active voters, more than 40,000 of whom are registered Republicans.<\/p>\n

At the grassroots level, some of the area\u2019s most active conservatives aren\u2019t interested in abandoning Boebert.<\/p>\n

The group Stand for the Constitution has become a local force on conservative and constitutionally minded issues. They\u2019ve backed school board candidates and hosted former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters after it was announced she was being investigated for tampering with election equipment.<\/p>\n

Tom Keenan is a regular at their Monday meetings at Grand Junction\u2019s Appleton Christian Church. He said Republicans switching to Hurd don\u2019t represent voter sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re speaking for themselves. However, they are coming out of a place that\u2019s probably more powerful than I have,\u201d Keenan said.<\/p>\n

He noted that the complaints about Boebert were not based on her actual work in Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I look at personal issues, we all have them. I have more than one Saturday I woke up wishing I hadn\u2019t spent Friday night doing whatever it was I was doing. We (all have) asked for forgiveness. She\u2019s asked, and I know her faith, I know she\u2019s repented and I know she isn\u2019t going to get caught up in something like that again.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Boebert herself has accepted responsibility for what she did in the theater, Keenan and others at the meeting speculated that the incident was somehow a setup meant to entrap her.<\/p>\n

Stand for the Constitution member Roberta Wilson said she\u2019s pleased with Boebert\u2019s record in Congress.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she\u2019s tried really hard to do a good job for us here on the Western Slope, And we\u2019ve seen things come out that she\u2019s actually been able to sponsor and get through the Congress,\u201d Wilson said, before drawing a comparison with Democrat Adam Frisch, who narrowly lost to Boebert in 2022. \u201cThis other dude that\u2019s from Aspen, I think is just horrendous to be even running for the conservative area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although some of Boebert\u2019s amendments have passed the House, none of her bills have gotten all the way through Congress. She\u2019s also claimed credit for getting measures included in appropriations bills that became law, although she voted against them.<\/p>\n

Many conservatives were also pleased with her involvement in the fight over Kevin McCarthy\u2019s speakership in January, which won concessions such as a minimum of 72 hours to read bills and allowing a single member to bring a motion to vacate.<\/p>\n

The officials that have thrown their support behind Hurd refer to him as a statesman and cite his legal and business background as potential advantages in Congress. In response, Keenan said they\u2019re off base in their assessment of what the district needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know Jeff, I like him, but he\u2019s an attorney. And politics has been filled with attorneys who debate and who want to negotiate. We don\u2019t need a negotiator in Congress right now if we\u2019re going to save this country,\u201d Keenan said.<\/p>\n

Still, some are open to the idea of a primary debate. Susan Potts believes the endorsements are premature, but generally welcomes the discussion.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what? If we don\u2019t challenge, we\u2019re not good people on our side. If we feel we can do better, we should be challenging her,\u201d Potts said. \u201c(Boebert) has to continue to say, \u2018this is who I am, this is what I\u2019m doing.\u2019 And try and not do those other things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changing tactics this time around<\/strong><\/p>\n

Potts\u2019 prescription for Boebert is exactly what the congresswoman has been trying to do \u2013 pivoting from the no compromise, Biden-bashing, partisan MAGA warrior she\u2019s played on the national stage to strike a more district-focused, policy-centered tone in her appearances back home in Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to talk about the Congresswoman\u2019s track record and what she\u2019s accomplished,\u201d said Boebert campaign manager Drew Sexton. He said voters \u2013 from her hard core supporters to the unaffiliated \u2013 will look past the controversies and focus ultimately on what Boebert\u2019s been able to do while in office.<\/p>\n

He points to her role in changing how the House operates now, as well as her involvement in local issues like water, economic development and trying to delist the gray wolf. Sexton said these examples show that Boebert is listening to her constituents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not as concerned about what some national outlets may write about this or that. They want to hear about how she\u2019s working for them at a legislative level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Of the 14 bills Boebert\u2019s introduced so far this Congress, more than half are focused on the district, compared to just under half of her first 14 bills in the last Congress. And unlike last term, when she criticized earmarks as corrupt, this year she put in earmark requests, which are a concrete way to get money for projects in the district.<\/p>\n

A Republican-control of the House this term has helped too, allowing her to move bills out of committee for the first time.<\/p>\n

None of this change in focus is surprising, given how close she came to losing her seat in the last election. But it doesn\u2019t mean there aren\u2019t potentially rough waters ahead for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a perfect candidate to get challenged in a primary,\u201d explained Elaine Kamark, head of the Primaries Project at the non-partisan Brookings Institute.<\/p>\n

Kamark said there are two situations where incumbents tend to be at risk in a primary: when they\u2019ve gotten out of touch with their district, or when they suffer a scandal to the point that voters may fear they could lose the general election.<\/p>\n

The gravity of the Beetlejuice scandal can perhaps be measured in its power to force the usually unapologetic Boebert to apologize.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m truly sorry for the unwanted attention my Sunday evening in Denver has brought to the community,\u201d she said in a statement several days after video of her behavior at the Beetlejuice performance emerged. \u201cWhile none of my actions or words as a private citizen that night were intended to be malicious or meant to cause harm, the reality is they did and I regret that \u2026 I simply fell short of my values on Sunday. That\u2019s unacceptable and I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In spite of her contrition, Kamark said it seems that \u201cthe Republican establishment in Colorado, particularly the former governor [Bill Owens], is saying to themselves, \u2018Hey, she\u2019s damaged goods. We\u2019d better get a new candidate if we want to hold on to this seat.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that while endorsements don\u2019t necessarily influence voters, it does help challengers with fundraising, which in turn gives them the resources necessary to mount a serious primary challenge.<\/p>\n

Dick Wadhams, a Republican political consultant and former Colorado GOP party chair, said Boebert\u2019s vulnerability in a general election has been clear ever since her close call last November from a Democrat who got little support from his national party.<\/p>\n

He explained that, going into this cycle, \u201cthe question was, would there be a credible Republican primary vote opponent to emerge? And I think the answer to that is pretty clear and Jeff Hurd is for real.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said there were a lot of Republican voters who were disturbed by Boebert\u2019s behavior during her first term, but stuck with her in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to be there this time. I think that\u2019s where the \u2018Beetlejuice\u2019 incident really hurt her. I think that tipped a lot of Republicans over in terms of voting for her, not only in a primary, but possibly even a general election,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

And for him, it\u2019s less about the vaping and the groping than the words she reportedly told staff as they asked her to leave: \u201cDo you know who I am?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat to me, I think, sent a message to the district that she\u2019s already been in Washington too long,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhen you start throwing that kind of a phraseology around, it\u2019s arrogant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boebert campaign manager Sexton said her race was always going to attract national attention and lots of challengers, but the campaign will be empowered by grassroots conservatives in the district. About half of the $2 million Boebert has raised this cycle comes from small donors. Hurd only raised $12,000 from small donors.<\/p>\n

In a district where registered unaffiliated voters outnumber Republicans \u2013 and can vote in the primary \u2013 grassroots loyalty may not be enough.<\/p>\n

As the incumbent, Boebert does have advantages going into the contest, including national name recognition and the support of the House Republican election arm.<\/p>\n

Clark University professor of Political Science Rob Boatright said there are a lot of electoral dynamics that can influence what makes a primary competitive, such as voter turnout, which could work to Boebert\u2019s advantage.<\/p>\n

There will be no statewide offices on the primary ballot in 2024, and the state primary comes in the middle of the summer, months after the presidential one. \u201cPeople rarely show up to vote because of a House race,\u201d noted Boatright.<\/p>\n

With the primary still eight months away, Hurd has a lot of time to introduce himself to voters, while Boebert will have the months ahead to burnish her record, and hope memories of Beetlejuice fade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

County is part of the 3rd Congressional District, in which incumbent Republican Loren Boebert is in a race that\u2019s too close to call against Democrat challenger Adam Frisch. Signs of support for her in and around Grand Junction, including here on Hwy. 50 south of the city, are hard to miss. (Hart Van Denburg\/CPR […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,28,367],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-30850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-headlines","tag-u-s-rep-lauren-boebert"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30850"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=30850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}