December 19, 2023 11:24 AM UTC

Sen. Janice Rich's CD-3 Primary Prayer Got Answered

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• by: Colorado Pols

Back in September, the Grand Junction Sentinel’s Charles Ashby reported on the first few Republican elected officials in Rep. Lauren Boebert’s district who flipped to support Boebert’s Republican primary opponent after Boebert’s ejection from a Denver performance of the Beetlejuice musical for vaping and various other inappropriate behaviors. As of that writing, state Sen. Janice Rich, who represents a sizable chunk of Boebert’s Western Slope constituency including Grand Junction, was still assessing the damage:

Sen. Janice Rich, R-Grand Junction, said she was “disappointed” in what Boebert did in the Beetlejuice incident, adding that she, too, is considering the matter and praying to decide what to do…

“Of course, the incident that happened, that bothered me, and I guess I haven’t made a real decision there,” she said. “I’m still kind of praying through that and making sure I make the right decision. I’m just reflecting on it and trying to make the right decision.”

Sometime between then and yesterday, the Good Lord got back to Sen. Rich with the okay to slide off the fence. KREX-TV:

Today, I am proud to endorse Jeff Hurd to represent us in Congress here in the 3rd congressional district. I have known Jeff since he was a young man. I have also known several members of his family. We have been friends a long time. I know Jeff to be a man of integrity who would make an outstanding and hardworking congressman.

Sen. Rich’s endorsement naturally carries more weight than other state senate Republicans outside the district who recently weighed in, but the same question of whether this growing list of low-level and/or long-retired Republicans will prove persuasive with grassroots Republican voters who will decide Boebert’s fate on June 25th applies. As a former Mesa County Treasurer and Clerk Rich is reasonably well known, and not really what you’d call a moderate after her vote in 2022 to support indicted Clerk Tina Peters and January 6th insurrectionists–but as we know from the fractious history of relations between Mesa County Republican officials and the MAGA grassroots, the endorsement of a well-known local Republican official might not be a net positive for Barbora Hurd’s husband.

With that said, every time “Beetlebert” claims another Republican conscience, we’re required to note it for the record.