{"id":40366,"date":"2022-05-27T13:27:08","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T19:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/beating-boebert-a-top-theme-among-three-democratic-candidates\/"},"modified":"2022-05-27T19:27:08","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T19:27:08","slug":"beating-boebert-a-top-theme-among-three-democratic-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/beating-boebert-a-top-theme-among-three-democratic-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Beating Boebert a top theme among three Democratic candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Sol
Sol Sandoval, Adam Frisch and Alex Walker<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Unseating U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Silt who represents Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, is a strong motivator for three Democratic primary candidates who spoke at a candidate forum in Grand Junction on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Boebert will first have to beat her primary challenger, Don Coram, a Republican state senator and former state representative from Montrose.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m running as a father, businessman, local community activist, former city council member, and to make sure Lauren Boebert doesn\u2019t win a second term,\u201d said Aspen businessman Adam Frisch. \u201cShe\u2019s an embarrassment and not fighting for the people who voted her in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe did not win her home county,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The candidate forum held at Colorado Mesa University also included Sol Sandoval, a community organizer from Pueblo, and Alex Walker, who runs a tech business in Grand Junction.<\/p>\n

About 140 people attended the event.<\/p>\n

Sandoval shared that she didn\u2019t sleep well the night before, with the recent school massacre<\/a> in Uvalde, Texas, on her mind, and concern for own children attending school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here today as a mother, and a daughter of courageous immigrants,\u201d Sandoval said. \u201cI\u2019m from a pro-union working family. I\u2019ve worked as a social worker and community organizer\u201d and have been trained to listen to people\u2019s issues, she said.<\/p>\n

Sandoval, who announced her candidacy within a month after Boebert took office, has spent the last year-and-a-half traveling around Colorado visiting with both Republicans and Democrats who are struggling to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to work across party lines,\u201d she said. \u201cAs an organizer, my friends throughout the district will make a difference. I\u2019m here because I know we can win this district. I have $800,000 from voters in the district \u2013 that demonstrates my grassroots campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walker, expressed anger at the Democratic Party for being too \u201cpolite\u201d and occasionally used expletives as he conveyed his frustration with Democrats playing too nice.<\/p>\n

\"Alex
Alex Walker, a Democratic primary candidate for Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, at a debate among Democrats on Wednesday in Grand Junction. (Sharon Sullivan for Colorado Newsline)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI\u2019m running for my survival,\u201d Walker said. \u201cSince Lauren Boebert and Donald Trump were elected, I can\u2019t tell you the number of times I\u2019ve been called a (slur for \u2018gay\u2019). They\u2019ve emboldened a hateful streak in people. I\u2019m here to work like hell for my survival. And for a future of clean jobs, real wages, basic human rights and accessible health care. We need people to stand up to Lauren Boebert.\u201d<\/p>\n

After mentioning \u201cthe two horrific acts in the past two weeks,\u201d the forum moderator asked each candidate if they would support a ban on assault rifles. On May 14, a man killed 10 people<\/a> in a Buffalo, New York, supermarket in an apparent racist attack.<\/p>\n

The Second Amendment topic comes up a lot during his visits with people in the district, and there needs to be a respect for gun ownership, Frisch said. He said he\u2019s not sure what the answer is to stopping America\u2019s all-too-common mass shootings but that certain people should be restricted from accessing firearms.<\/p>\n

\"Sol
Sol Sandoval, a Democratic primary candidate for Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, speaks with attendees at a debate among Democrats on Wednesday in Grand Junction. (Sharon Sullivan for Colorado Newsline)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Sandoval said she\u2019s a gun owner and recognizes the importance of the Second Amendment for rural Coloradans. However, \u201cthere are practical things we can support in the bill in the Senate that addresses background checks,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Bipartisan Background Checks Act<\/a> would expand federal background checks required for gun purchases and ensure that individuals experiencing a mental health crisis would not be able to access guns, she said.<\/p>\n

Walker said he would close the loophole for background checks, ban assault rifles and send to prison people who bring guns to schools.<\/p>\n

Wildfire protection<\/div>\n

Candidates were also asked if they\u2019ve considered the fate of oil and gas, as well as coal industry workers as Colorado moves toward achieving 100% renewable energy by 2040.<\/p>\n

Walker responded that there\u2019s a demand for clean energy and that people will actually earn more money in the renewable energy industry.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmbracing clean technology is an incredible opportunity for Colorado\u2019s future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sandoval, who mentioned growing up in poverty and is sympathetic to people\u2019s fears about job losses, said she would support the training needed to transition away from fossil fuel development and into renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\"Adam
Adam Frisch, right, a Democratic primary candidate for Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, at a debate among Democrats on Wednesday in Grand Junction. (Sharon Sullivan for Colorado Newsline)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Frisch said a lot of people working in the fossil fuel industry are aware of changes in weather, implying that workers are aware that the future will require learning new skills.<\/p>\n

When asked about current federal legislation<\/a> that would protect employees\u2019 rights to organize and collectively bargain in the workplace, Frisch agreed that there must be protections for wages and benefits and that he would not stand in the way of workers who want to organize.<\/p>\n

Sandoval contended that an entire region improves when there\u2019s a union employer in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cPueblo is a union town,\u201d she said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s lives improve. I know the importance of collective power and standing up to corporations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Candidates were also asked how they would protect Colorado during an era of unprecedented wildfires. Walker said he would protect Colorado with carbon tax incentives and reforestation. He also emphasized the importance of renegotiating the Colorado River Compact<\/a> guidelines for sharing water with downstream users.<\/p>\n

Sandoval mentioned the need for conserving water and protecting the water that originates in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, while Frisch added that Coloradans should not turn down funding that would help states deal with forest fires \u2013 a reference to Boebert, who voted against the bipartisan infrastructure bill<\/a> and the Build Back Better Act.<\/p>\n

Frisch said Democrats have a unique opportunity to beat Boebert if she wins the primary but that Democrats must build a coalition that includes unaffiliated voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be a shame if this district blows this opportunity,\u201d he said. \u201cLauren Boebert is more vulnerable than people realize.\u201d<\/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>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sandoval, Alex Walker and Adam Frisch face off in Grand Junction ahead of June primary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[981,266,28,826,1126,2972,1722,367],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-40366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-3rd-congressional-district","tag-election","tag-headlines","tag-political-campaigns","tag-politics-general","tag-primary","tag-regional-elections","tag-u-s-rep-lauren-boebert"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40366","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=40366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40366"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=40366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}