{"id":66094,"date":"2020-02-29T11:55:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-29T18:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/boebert-campaigns-against-tipton-in-cortez-and-durango\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:34:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:34:27","slug":"boebert-campaigns-against-tipton-in-cortez-and-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/boebert-campaigns-against-tipton-in-cortez-and-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Boebert campaigns against Tipton in Cortez and Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Lauren Boebert told 40 people at her Durango meet-and-greet Thursday she\u2019s running into Republicans who want an active representative in Congress, \u201cnot someone just warming a seat thinking we\u2019re in a district we can\u2019t lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boebert made her first Durango appearance at Four Leaves Winery after holding several appearances in Cortez. She returned to Cortez the next day, meeting constituents and speaking at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5231 on Friday evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people want to see me, and then when they come, the first thing they say is, \u2018Where\u2019s your gun?\u2019 I don\u2019t have a good side. I have a gun side,\u201d Boebert said at the Durango meet-and-greet.<\/p>\n

And, showing up with a pistol strapped to her thigh, she didn\u2019t disappoint attendees.<\/p>\n

\"Lauren
Lauren Boebert, a Republican candidate for Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, speaks to about 40 people Thursday during a campaign stop at the Four Leaves Winery in Durango.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Boebert, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, for the 3rd Congressional District seat, told the crowd her open-carry practice, started at her restaurant, Shooters Grill in Rifle, has provided a benefit she particularly enjoys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned, I\u2019m really good at triggering liberals, and I really like it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

While attending an Aspen City Council meeting, she said one of the councilors saw her Glock 9 mm and announced he was \u201cawash with fear.\u201d<\/p>\n

She joked, \u201cI didn\u2019t know if he was going to call his mom or what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Greg
Greg Lopez, former mayor of Parker and a Republican gubernatorial candidate, speaks during a campaign stop with Lauren Boebert, a Republican candidate for Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, on Thursday at Four Leaves Winery in Durango.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Beyond Boebert\u2019s defense of gun rights, she said her signature issue is really a defense of something broader. \u201cPeople see our advocacy for the Second Amendment (at Shooters Grill), but really what it is, is an advocacy for all our freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boebert said she was raised in a household with Democratic politics and an ethos that government assistance was essential because the family could not succeed on its own.<\/p>\n

But after getting her first job at McDonald\u2019s, she realized she could build her skills and advance in the workplace.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what it\u2019s like to stand in line for cheese and grape juice from the government. I thank God there was a minimum wage low enough when I was growing up that an owner of a McDonald\u2019s could offer a girl with no skills a job,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tom Clemens, who lives east of Durango, said he would vote for Boebert if she made the ballot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not pleased with Tipton. I don\u2019t see him taking any stands. He\u2019s too mushy for me. He just tries to play it safe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Clemens was unconcerned that knocking off a GOP incumbent might give Democrats a better chance to pick up the seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she\u2019d have a better chance, honestly, because she stands for something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Boebert also previewed her first commercial, a 30-second spot that will run on social media in the 3rd Congressional District.<\/p>\n

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