State Rep. Gabe Evans, front, speaks while his two opponents, Weld County Commissioner Scott James, center, and Joe Andujo, listen during the first Republican primary debate for the 8th Congressional district Thursday in Fort Lupton. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
FORT LUPTON — The three candidates running to represent Colorado’s toss-up 8th Congressional District faced off at a debate Thursday night in which they staked out highly conservative positions on immigration, abortion, gender-affirming care for minors and Donald Trump.
The GOP primary features two elected officials, state Rep. Gabe Evans and Weld County Commissioner Scott James, who both insisted they could win support from Democrats and unaffiliated voters in a district that incumbent U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo won by just 1,600 votes in 2022 but whose voters backed Joe Biden by 4.6 percentage points in 2022.
A third candidate, Joe Andujo, a health care consultant and political newcomer, appeared to position himself furthest to the right, embracing President Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him.
Some highlights from the event co-moderated by the Unaffiliated’s own Jesse Paul and hosted by the Republican Women of Weld:
On immigration: All three candidates said stronger border security was the first step in addressing the country’s migrant crisis.
“I can carry that message to voters and explain to them how this is not a racist policy,” Evans said. “Immigration is the story of my family.”
James called for broader immigration reform: “We need immigrants in this great nation, but we need people who want to come here legally to pursue the American dream.”
Evans and James did not directly answer whether they supported deporting immigrants who are living in the U.S. unlawfully, but both said those people needed to be identified. Andujo said migrants should be sent back to their home countries. “Have them apply properly for asylum in their own country through the embassy,” he said.
On abortion: All three candidates cheered the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 precedent that had guaranteed a minimum level of nationwide abortion access. But none of them said they would support a federal ban on abortion.
“I don’t believe in a federal ban,” James said. “I believe that conversation should be had with the people closest to home.”
On gender-affirming care for transgender minors: Evans offered a joke that drew few audible laughs. “I think you’ve probably all heard the joke, right, we’re all Republicans here: It’s a good thing that when I was a kid and wanted to be a pirate that they didn’t cut off my leg and give me an eye patch, because these things change as you grow,” he said. “No, we can’t be doing this to our kids.”
Evans, James and Andujo all said they would support a federal ban on gender-affirming care for minors, as well as an effort to defund diversity, equity and inclusion training in the federal government.
“We should be a merit-based country,” Andujo said.
On a Biden impeachment inquiry: “We must regain our confidence in our institutions,” James said. “Without that confidence, we don’t have a nation. Joe Biden needs to be investigated.”
Evans agreed, calling it “the Biden crime family” before trying to steer the discussion toward crime and the state’s high cost of living.
“We need to be sure we’re focusing on those issues of grave importance to everyday Coloradans,” he said.
On former President Donald Trump: All three candidates said they’d vote for Trump in the presidential primary this year, but Evans offered a caveat. He said he’ll support the candidate he believes can win, “which is probably President Trump.” When asked if the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, James said “no,” while Evans hedged. “No-ish,” he said.
Andujo said “yes.”
On military aid for Israel and Ukraine: All three candidates said they support aid for Israel. Asked if they support aid to Ukraine, James said “no more,” while Evans side-stepped the question, saying “ish” when asked for a “yes” or “no” answer.
On former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy: Andujo was the only candidate who said he would have voted him out of leadership.
MORE: Evans won a straw poll after the debate with 69 votes. James came in second with 33 votes, while Andujo was last at 13 votes. The unscientific poll was only an indication of sentiments in the room at the Fort Lupton Recreation Center.
The 8th District race this year is high stakes, with control of Congress on the line. That was clear by the fact a National Republican Congressional Committee representative was in the room. The candidates spent considerable time Thursday night pitching themselves as the best suited to win in November.
James touted his local government experience, saying he has kept taxes low as a county commissioner and returned money to Weld County residents under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.
“I’m a proven vote-getter,” said James, a two-term county commissioner and former Johnstown mayor. “I am a competent, common sense, pragmatic individual that works endlessly for people.”
Evans, whose grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico, leaned into his family heritage as the candidate who could best appeal to the district’s growing Hispanic population.
“While I don’t have the last name, I also have that same story that many of these other folks in this district have,” Evans said.
Andujo, who was born in Mexico, also framed his background as his strength.
“As a Latino, as an immigrant, all of the identity politics that the incumbent throws out there — and there’s a lot of them— they’re not going to work on me,” he said.
$3.6 million
What Legislative Council Staff estimates it will cost to print and mail state ballot guides, known as the blue book, for the 2024 election. The amount also includes the cost to publish the title and full text of ballot measures in newspapers across the state.
Abortion rights. Property taxes. An election system overhaul.
Colorado voters may have to contend with a very long ballot in November if all the groups pursuing statewide ballot measures are successful. And that would leave taxpayers on the hook for a very expensive blue book.
“Over the last five or six years, (the cost has) grown significantly,” Natalie Castle, director of LCS, told legislative leaders on Tuesday. “The cost of paper has grown. The cost of newspaper publication has grown.”
By comparison, the cost to print the blue book for the November 2023 election, on which there were only two statewide ballot measures, was $1.1 million, including $25,000 to publish the title and full text of ballot measures in newspapers.
The cost to print and mail the blue book and publish the title and full text of ballot measures in newspapers for the 2022 election, when the ballot was packed with 11 measures, was $3.3 million. The newspaper publication cost was nearly $1 million alone.
Colorado election officials say it may not be possible to block unaffiliated voters from participating in Republicans’ June primaries
A voter casts a ballot Nov. 7 at Christ Church United Methodist in Denver. (Olivia Sun, The Colorado Sun via Report for America)
Barring unaffiliated voters from participating in Republicans’ June 25 primaries in Colorado would require months of work to revamp the state’s voter registration system, an elections official told a federal judge this week.
“We’re in the middle of a presidential primary election during which we cannot make changes,” said Hilary Rudy, deputy elections administrator at the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. “I think we’d need six to nine months.”
Rudy was testifying this week in the Colorado GOP’s lawsuit seeking to invalidate Proposition 108, the 2016 ballot measure approved by voters letting unaffiliated voters cast ballots in partisan primaries. The party is seeking a preliminary injunction that would be in effect for the primaries later this year.
Rudy also warned that barring unaffiliated voters from casting ballots in Republicans’ June primaries would create confusion for the unaffiliated voters who will be voting in the state’s March 5 presidential primaries.
Attorneys for the Colorado GOP argued in court that allowing nonparty members to participate in their primary elections dilutes the votes of party members in violation of their First Amendment rights of freedom to associate.
“It’s one of the most critical functions of a political party,” said attorney John Eastman, who is representing the Republicans. “The right to associate includes the right of who not to associate with.”
Eastman, a former University of Colorado visiting conservative scholar, helped Donald Trump try to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He was indicted alongside Trump in Georgia in August and is facing disbarment in California.
After hearing testimony Tuesday and Wednesday, U.S. Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer is expected to rule on the GOP’s injunction request in the coming days.
Several prominent Colorado Republicans testified in the case — both for and against the GOP.
Former GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams and former Deputy Colorado Secretary of State Suzanne Taheri testified on behalf of the Secretary of State’s Office in support of allowing unaffiliated voters to participate in Republicans’ primaries. Wadhams sparred with GOP attorney Randy Corporon, who is also a Republican National Committee member, over Wadhams’ criticism of current GOP Chairman Dave Williams.
Williams testified that allowing unaffiliated voters to participate in Republicans’ primaries has resulted in weaker candidates being advanced to general elections, particularly in 2022, when more unaffiliated voters participated in the GOP primary than in past years.
MORE: The first question Assistant Attorney General Kyle Holter asked Williams on cross examination was whether he also went by Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams and what the nickname meant.
Williams said the nickname was a reference to dislike for the government and “how the media or those in power were engaged in putting forward false narratives that the public simply wasn’t buying.”
Holter asked again what the phrase meant, and Williams replied “to my recollection (it was) a pejorative against Joe Biden.” Asked what the pejorative was, Williams replied, “The f-word.”
Williams tried to have his name appear as Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams on the 2022 ballot in the Republican primary for the 5th Congressional District, but a Denver judge blocked his request and the Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear Williams’ appeal.
ADDENDUM: Eastman was the guest at a private reception at a home in Englewood Tuesday hosted by the Colorado GOP. Asked Wednesday by The Colorado Sun about the event, Eastman said about 40 people attended and “it was good.”
Want to reach Colorado political influencers and support quality local journalism? The Sun can help get your message attention through a sponsorship of The Unaffiliated, the must-read politics and policy newsletter in Colorado. Contact Sylvia Harmon at [email protected] for more information.
Then-Colorado state Rep. Perry Will, R-New Castle, confers with a colleague in the House chamber as lawmakers try to wrap up the session in the Colorado Capitol on June 15, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
ELECTION 2024: State Sen. Perry Will is abandoning his reelection bid in Senate District 5. Instead, the New Castle Republican will run to become a Garfield County commissioner. Will said he wants to spend more time on the Western Slope with his grandkids. “I’ve missed too many ballgames,” he told The Unaffiliated. Senate District 5 is a toss-up that Republicans need to hold in 2024 to have a shot at winning back a majority in 2026. The district has a 2.2 percentage point advantage for Republicans, according to a nonpartisan analysis of past election results. Two Democrats, Montrose Mayor Barbara Bynum and Cole Buerger, of Glenwood Springs, are running for the seat. Republican state Reps. Matt Soper, of Delta, and Marc Catlin, of Montrose, live in the district and are possible candidates to replace Will.
COLORADO LEGISLATURE: Colorado is one of eight states with Democratic legislatures targeted as “opportunities for growth” in 2024 by the Republican State Leadership Committee. The others include California, New York, Illinois, Oregon and Washington. That’s the lowest of four tiers used by the national GOP group to categorize the GOP’s legislative chances in states.
EDUCATION: Attorney Kristi Burton Brown, a former Colorado GOP chair, is running this year to represent the State Board of Education seat in the 4th Congressional District. Burton Brown, who announced her campaign this week, is currently executive vice president at Advance Colorado, a conservative nonprofit. Debora Scheffel, a Republican, currently holds the seat but isn’t running for reelection.
NO LABELS: A national nonprofit filed a campaign finance complaint in Colorado against No Labels, the group promoting a yet-to-be-named, third-party presidential candidate. Accountable.US, which filed the complaint, claims that No Labels Colorado Party qualified as a minor party but hasn’t filed necessary campaign finance reports or disclosed its donors. The complaint says that “allowing No Labels Colorado Party to hide behind their associated national party would create a dangerous gap in Colorado’s campaign finance law, and allow national groups to funnel dark money into Colorado’s elections via state-level organizations.” End Citizens United, another national nonprofit, filed a separate complaint with the Federal Election Commission against No Labels, The Associated Press reported.
STORY : Top Republican in Colorado House resigns from leadership a week after news about his 2022 DUI arrest
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN: “The people of Pueblo have spoken”: Heather Graham, a Republican, claims victory in mayoral runoff
CBS COLORADO : Bill introduced to make alcohol to-go sales permanent at Colorado restaurants
COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO : Colorado abortion amendment campaign kicks off on anniversary of Roe v. Wade decision
DENVER BUSINESS JOURNAL : Kelly Brough named a Common Sense Institute fellow
Colorado secretary of state seeks disclosure for “deepfakes” and criminal charges for fake presidential electors
A deepfake of Gov. Jared Polis that was used in a 2022 election attack ad. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold wants the legislature to pass a bill requiring a disclosure on all campaign communications created using artificial intelligence. (Screenshot)
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold is advocating for the passage of bills in the legislature this year that would criminalize fake presidential elector schemes and require disclosure on campaign communications created using artificial intelligence.
Republicans in other parts of the country assembled slates of alternate electors in 2020 as part of efforts to overthrow the results of the presidential election in Donald Trump’s favor. Those electors have been charged in some states, but in New Mexico, for instance, there was no law prohibiting such slates and so no criminal charges could be brought.
Penalties under the Colorado law Griswold is asking lawmakers to pass would be up to 364 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
When it comes to artificial intelligence in political ads, they have been used in Colorado before.
In 2022, the state-level super PAC Restore the Rockies created a deepfake video of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis in which the Democrat said he would “buy your vote.” It included a disclaimer that said: “Not the real Jared Polis. Jared Polis would never be this honest with you.”
“Misinformation, as we’ve painfully witnessed, has the power to ignite a storm that not only threatens our election workers but jeopardizes the very essence of our democracy,” said Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez, a Democrat and one of several elected officials who spoke at a news conference Thursday during which Griswold rolled out her policy priorities.
Under Griswold’s proposal, groups behind AI-generated campaign communications without disclosures would face civil penalties, and the candidates targeted by them would be allowed to sue for damages.
Griswold is also advocating for a bill that would require the secretary of state to meet annually with Native American tribal officials to review how voting access could be improved on reservations.
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