January 26, 2024 02:32 PM UTC

Debate Diary: Nine Republicans Face Off in CO-04

• 11 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Nine Republican candidates seeking the open seat in CO-04 being vacated by the retirement of Rep. Ken Buck participated in a candidate forum on Thursday evening sponsored by the “Women of Weld” (WOW). You can watch the entire 90-minute debate on Facebook, or keep reading for one of our infamous “Debate Diaries.” 

In the interest of time and sanity, all comments are paraphrased unless they appear in quotations. 

State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer kicks things off by introducing the moderators: Ernest Luning of the publication formerly known as the Colorado Statesman; and KNUS radio host George Brauchler.

The candidate table is nearly as wide as the entire room. From left to right: Lauren Boebert, Trent Leisy, Deborah Flora, Mike Lynch, Chris Phelan, Jerry Sonnenberg, Ted Harvey, Peter Yu, and Richard Holtorf. Mariel Bailey apparently decided to drop out of the race for CO-04 before anybody could figure out what she looked like. 

Justin Schreiber is also not here. Schreiber was scheduled to attend but skipped the debate at the last minute citing some sort of alleged conflict with someone prosecuting a case against him who is friends with Brauchler. Seriously – read this bizarre Tweet. 

Brauchler is often a moderator for WOW debates, and he always fancies himself as a comedian. Here’s his groan-inducing opener: “This is the no-contact version of tonight’s event. Some have described it as clothing optional.”

Somebody laughed off screen. Maybe even two people. 

Brauchler keeps trying to make jokes. They keep falling flatter than a Mike Lynch DUI excuse (too soon?) After a bit more nonsense, we get right to opening statements…

2:14: Lauren Boebert: She starts by talking about being a mother and a grandmother (apparently she brought her grandson tonight). Boebert also claims she just moved to Weld County. How encouraging! The Primary Election is five months away and Boebert just moved into the district. Sorry, residents of the third congressional district.

“There are 12 candidates up here,” says Boebert. She needs to work on her math skills (there are only 9 candidates on stage). 

2:53: Trent Leisy: The self-professed “MAGA King” is, sadly, not wearing his “MAGA King” hat. But he is wearing a red “SAVE AMERICA” hat to go with his suit and red tie. How many different red hats does Leisy have? A dozen? Two dozen?

Leisy says his roots in the district go back to 1888. Okay.

He uses most of his time talking about being a Colorado native and complaining that America has a lot of problems.

3:30: Deborah Flora: She clearly hasn’t learned much from her failed 2022 U.S. Senate campaign, which included a debate on this very stage. Flora talked about traveling to the Soviet Union and pledging to herself that she would take action if the U.S. ever started to look like the USSR. “Today is that day,” she says. Of course, “that day” was also in early 2022 – the first time she used this line.

Here’s what we wrote in a “Debate Diary” from the WOW U.S. Senate candidate forum in February 2022:

Flora says that she traveled to the Soviet Union “during the coup” when she was Miss Colorado, and that this was the moment of clarity that convinced her to one day run for federal office. 

That story didn’t work in 2022, and it doesn’t appear to be doing much in 2024.

4:01: Mike Lynch: The former House Minority Leader introduces himself by saying, “Most of you already know me.” Indeed. Lynch is not wearing his traditional cowboy hat, which makes it hard to recognize him.

4:30: Chris Phelan is next. He served for three years as Chief of Staff to Congressman Doug Lamborn in CO-05, but this is the first time we’ve ever seen his face. Phelan says “America” and “freedom” as many times as possible. 

5:00: Here’s Jerry Sonnenberg, who traveled from 1998 to be here tonight. He’s wearing a gray jacket with a black button-up shirt and a red-and-white striped tie. He talks about being a farmer and rancher who lives in the same house where he was raised (and where his father was raised). He might well be wearing the same clothes, too. 

5:30: Ted Harvey looks like the bad guy from a bad movie. He says he spent 13 years in the state legislature fighting for the conservative cause. He says “conservative” about 7 more times in 20 seconds.

6:00: Peter Yu is sort of like a Miller Moth. He invades Colorado every two years, hangs around for a couple of months, and then disappears (Yu ran for Congress in 2018 and 2020, and for U.S. Senate in 2022). Yu says that he is a former executive for “some of the biggest companies in the world.” He concludes by telling the audience that he wants to speak to each of them individually so that they “can learn my plan” for CO-04. 

6:30: Richard Holtorf talks about being in the Army for 29 years. He says he is a third-generation rancher at Buffalo Springs Ranch, which “started in 1982” and is “now a multi-billion dollar company.” None of that makes any sense. Holtorf is wearing a bolo tie but removed his cowboy hat and placed it on the table.

7:15: First question from Brauchler: What is your #1 priority if you get elected to Congress. Brauchler emphasizes that he’s looking for ONE priority in the answers from candidates. Good luck with that.

LEISY: Securing the border and “shutting it down on day one.” Just turn the border off! It’s so easy! Leisy also says that we need to “deport every illegal immigrant in this country.” Seems practical. 

FLORA: “Definitely securing the border but the second is getting our economy under control.” You’re breaking Brauchler’s rules, Deborah! Flora continues by talking about a balanced budget and supporting single-subject line item budget bills. Very exciting. 

LYNCH: Securing the border is the #1 issue because fentanyl is killing everyone. He says we need to, and we quote, “Make more strict the laws that are allowing fentanyl to flow through our country and kill the citizens of Colorado.” Make fentanyl trafficking illegal? Why has nobody thought of this before?

PHELAN: “Number one is fentanyl – to take care of that issue, and the drug issue.” Phelan says we need to take out the drug cartels and stop ANY fentanyl “from entering our country.” Sounds easy enough.

SONNENBERG: “I would argue that Bidenomics has been our biggest issue, and part of that is caused by the border.” Come again? Sonneberg claims that the Biden administration is “destroying our economy” with immigrants. This is a weird approach, since Sonnenberg is going to have to be arguing AGAINST readily-available facts; heck, the stock market has hit record levels multiple times just this month. 

Sonneberg concludes by saying “Our national debt is killing us.” Is this before or after fentanyl kills us?

HARVEY: Immigration. He says he has carried “13 different bills” dealing with immigration during his time in the legislature. Harvey emphasizes this point by holding up a single piece of paper. 

YU: “Immigration is absolutely the number one issue.” Yu says that you can’t walk down the streets in any city without seeing an immigrant, which is probably true but not really relevant. He also claims that kids are being pushed out of their schools by immigrants, which is…probably not true.

HOLTORF: “Narco-terrorists are destroying our country, and we need to declare war on narco terrorists.” Holtorf punctuates this point by saying “We also need to divert funds to pay for this from Ukraine to pay for defending our own country!” Holtorf thought this would be a good line, but the room is completely silent.

BOEBERT: She says she is the only person on the stage fighting to secure the border “each and every day.” Except for, you know, all of the days in which we see her doing other random stuff. 

Boebert says she stopped “the $450,000 checks for separated aliens at our border.” What?

12:30: Ernest Luning has a question for Boebert specifically, and the other candidates will then get to comment. Luning says that “by all accounts” the current Congressional session is the least-productive in modern history, and wants to know how to make improvements.

BOEBERT: She says she is very proud of what she has accomplished…which is bupkis. 

“I have signed the Pueblo Jobs Act,” she begins, before clarifying, “It was signed into law by Joe Biden.” 

“I have passed more out of committee and in the House than any other member of our delegation.” Fact check: Absolutely not.

Boebert says the thing she is most proud of is working with “my friend” Matt Gaetz to force 15 different ballots before electing Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker. 

LEISY: He says that Congress isn’t doing anything because of “RINO establishments in Congress” who aren’t doing anything “because they don’t want to see Donald Trump elected.”

FLORA: Says she is not a career politician (mostly because she keeps losing), and uses her time to hold up a glossy booklet that is her blueprint for fixing everything, or something.

LYNCH: He has a good answer here that is a not-so-subtle jab at Boebert. Lynch says the people of CO-04 need someone to focus on issues in their district. 

PHELEN: “I’m actually the only one up here with the most experience at the federal level.” Cool English. He says “from day one” he’ll create legislation that will pass both the House and the Senate and become law. 

SONNENBERG: Says he accomplished a lot of things as a state legislator. 

HARVEY: Says “I would be doing everything I could to shut down Congress until we got [the border] issue dealt with.” Ted clearly did not listen to the question.

YU: Says Congress passed 27 bills last year, including a bill to create a commemorative coin, while Americans are suffering. Yu criticizes politicians who brag about bringing a bill to the floor that was already dead on arrival.

HOLTORF: “Leadership. Natural born leadership.” Holtorf says Newt Gingrich was the last successful leader in the House, then adds hilariously, “I passed 27 bills, resolutions, or tributes in four years in the State House…I get things done!”

Boebert is allowed to wrap up, for some reason. She says she wouldn’t brag about Newt Gingrich. 

20:00: Time for a “lightning round” with answers given by a show of hands. “Was the 2020 election stolen from Donald Trump?”

Only Boebert and Leisy raise their hands.

Brauchler then says he wants each candidate to say who they plan to vote for in the March 5 Presidential Primary. This is a complete waste of time: Everybody says Trump.

“I will be voting for President Trump,” says Boebert. “For his third victory as President.” 

21:00: Brauchler says he’s going to “mix things up” by going from right to left for the next answers. The last set of answers were also provided…from right to left. Brauchler is doing a bang-up job! Anyway, the question is about whether candidates would agree to voluntary term limits.

HOLTORF: Says four terms in the House.

YU: Won’t serve more than three terms.

HARVEY: Says he doesn’t believe in term limits.

SONNENBERG: Four terms.

PHELAN: Doesn’t believe in term limits.

LYNCH: “I agree with my good friend Richard Holtorf.”

FLORA: Says she signed term-limits pledge, but doesn’t indicate how many terms.

LEISY: Believes in term limits. Four terms only. 

BOEBERT: Says she is a co-sponsor of a term-limits bill. 

Brauchler asks for clarification: “How many terms?”

Boebert has no idea. “For Congress? It’s what the bill says.” Boebert thinks it says three terms for the House. Remember, she is a co-sponsor of this legislation.

25:00: Brauchler asks by a show of hands, “Should the Republican Party take sides in a Primary in Colorado?” Remember, the State GOP Central Committee recently endorsed Donald Trump for President…well before the March 5 Primary Election.

Nobody raises their hand.

25:10: Luning asks candidates to name a Democrat they respect or work with.

BOEBERT: Dances around for awhile before saying that she likes Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, but only on a personal level.

LEISY: Can’t name anyone. 

FLORA: Mumbles something about socialism but doesn’t offer a name.

LYNCH: Says he doesn’t know any national Democrats. After 20 seconds of gibberish, he finally mentions State House Majority Leader Monica Duran.

PHELAN: John Hickenlooper.

SONNENBERG: John Hickenlooper.

HARVEY: “I passed the only restriction on abortion in the State of Colorado.” Um, okay. Then he mentions Terrance Carroll, “African-American from inner-city Denver” and Peter Groff “also inner-city African-American and President of the Senate.” In other words, Ted Harvey knows two Black guys. 

YU: Kyrsten Sinema?

HOLTORF: Asks Luning to repeat the question, then jokes, “Liz Cheney.” We’ll give him credit – that’s a decent joke, and it gets some laughs. Later Holtorf mentions State Rep. Dafna Michaelson-Jenet. 

Holtorf keeps talking and then says, “I was joking” about Liz Cheney because she was a Republican. Way to kill your own joke.

30:00: Luning asks which of the other candidates each person might support if they weren’t running.

BOEBERT: Peter Yu

LEISY: He seems really confused by this question and takes 10 seconds to look up and down the table. Finally he names Sonnenberg.

FLORA: She can’t answer this question because she is “still learning” about the other candidates. So lame. Just say “Peter Yu” and move on.

LYNCH: Sonnenberg

PHELAN: “I would have said Mariel Bailey, but she’s not here.”

“She dropped out,” says Luning.

Phelan thinks for a moment and says, “I would actually say, Deb Flora.”

SONNEBERG: Ted Harvey

HARVEY: Jerry Sonnenberg

YU: Pretends this is a tough question, then finally names Sonnenberg.

HOLTORF: Mike Lynch

We probably don’t need to point out that NOBODY mentioned Lauren Boebert.

32:00: Luning asks candidates if they will commit to supporting the nominee in CO-04.

Everyone raises their hand.

32:10: Luning asks for another show of hands. “Have you ever been arrested?”

Boebert, Leisy, Lynch, Phelan, Sonnenberg, and Holtorf raise their hands. Holtorf yells out, “Twice!” The audience bursts into applause as Leisy high-fives both Lynch and Boebert.

This is worth repeating: Six of the 9 candidates on stage admitted to being arrested, and this generated the largest round of applause thus far. Ladies and gentlemen: The Colorado Republican Party!

33:00: Brauchler asks a new question, aimed at Mike Lynch, about how voters should consider and weigh a candidate’s criminal history. Brauchler tosses in a barb at the “lamestream media” as though it is the media’s fault when these idiots get arrested.

LYNCH: People are human and they make mistakes. 

PHELAN: “Every person is a person. Every person in this room is a person.” Winston Churchill, he is not.

SONNENBERG: Says he was arrested when he was 19 years old for speeding. “We’re all sinners.”

HARVEY: “Character matters.” He then tells a really stupid story from high school about he and a friend running across a road near the Air Force Academy after a Military Police Officer told them not to do that.

YU: “Your private life is your private life.” Not when you’re running for office.

HOLTORF: Says he was arrested twice and it was for fighting. Oddly, Holtorf then looks down at a sheet of paper and says, “Voters need to focus on leadership and accomplishments,” then sits back like he made a great point. You couldn’t just remember that line?

BOEBERT: Breaking laws is part of the American dream.

LEISY: Jesus Christ is the only perfect person.

FLORA: “None of us are perfect. It is the left woke cancel culture that expects that, otherwise they will eradicate everything that anyone has done.” FFS. 

Lynch gets to finish up this question. He says he is a better person for racing a state trooper while driving drunk (more than two times the legal limit), then pulling out a gun and trying to get the trooper to call the State Patrol lobbyist at the State Capitol. Well, he didn’t say that exactly, but he STILL hasn’t apologized for his September 2022 arrest. “I’m moving forward,” he says. 

40:00: Luning asks a question about immigration and the border. “What do you propose to do about the millions of illegal immigrants already in this country?”

SONNENBERG: Takes 30 seconds to restate the problem but never provides an answer.

HARVEY: Blames Joe Biden for immigration and says that we need to tell people that they should go through the process legally. Great idea! Concludes by saying every illegal immigrant in America should be deported.

YU: Says we need to analyze who is here and why they are here. 

HOLTORF: Says military service should be a pathway to citizenship. Also brings up work visas as a fast-track to citizenship. Holtorf actually has a decent answer, but then he goes full racist: “And the most important thing: For all of those fighting age, Middle Eastern males who have come to this country, they need to be immediately deported back to the Middle East – those terrorist countries. Full stop!”

BOEBERT: “We are a nation of laws.” We didn’t hear the rest because we were laughing too hard.

LEISY: “President Trump showed us that the asylum policy works.” Huh?

FLORA: She says she went to the border last year and talked to people who said, “Joe Biden told me that I could have a phone, a car, and a job today.” She is beyond ridiculous.

LYNCH: Says we need to enforce the laws that are on the books and deport everyone.

PHELAN: “It’s very simple: Buses brought them here, and buses can take them back.” Classy.

Sonnenberg gets more time to answer, for some reason. He just talks about “securing the border” again and again.

46:00: Candidates now get to ask each other a question. Luning mentions that nobody will get to ask Justin Schreiber a question because he didn’t show up. If any of these candidates had actually bothered to formulate a question for Schreiber, they should immediately drop out of the race.

46:40: Flora has a question for Boebert about Kerry Donovan, a Democrat who was a candidate in CO-03 for a time and was blasted by Boebert for not living in the district. Flora wants to know why this standard doesn’t apply to Boebert, who literally just moved into Weld County in the last week or two. 

BOEBERT: “I have been very clear that this is a fresh start for me and my family.” Boebert basically dodges this question since she has no real answer. 

48:16: Lynch has a question for Boebert: “Can you give the definition of carpetbagger?” The crowd “oohs” and “ahhs.” 

BOEBERT: “Is this a Mary Poppins question?” Sure. Boebert keeps saying she and her boys needed a fresh start; she basically blames her ex-husband for her decision to run for Congress 400 miles away from her original home. 

49:45: Phelan says he has already visited all 21 counties (nobody cares). He asks Holtorf if he will agree to a debate in every county.

Holtorf replies that he will be happy to debate in every TOWN in the district, then starts naming towns. This is all very dumb.

50:40: Sonnenberg says he won’t ask a gotcha question and refuses to participate.

51:30: Harvey jabbers about immigration and the earned income tax credit. Eventually he gets around to a question about Lynch and Holtorf agreeing to legislation that would give some of Colorado’s TABOR refunds to illegal immigrants. 

Lynch isn’t sure what Harvey is talking about. Harvey says the legislation allowed illegal immigrants to qualify for the earned income tax credit. 

LYNCH: “You know, we need to look out for ALL Coloradans, and that bill did that.” This was not a good answer from Lynch. At all.

53:30: Peter Yu asks Sonnenberg for a tour of his ranch. Sonnenberg agrees. Great.

54:45: Holtorf says “This is a serious, serious job” before asking Flora a question: He says Flora told Douglas County Republicans that the next Congressperson from CO-04 should come from Douglas County because it is the population center of the district. He wants to know why she said that.

FLORA: Says she was misquoted but doesn’t disagree with the premise. She says she will fight to make sure CO-04 doesn’t turn into California. 

Deborah Flora is a ridiculous person.

56:45: Boebert wants to know why Peter Yu is always running for some sort of political office. Yu says running for office over and over again is how he “pays it forward” for his family being successful in America. 

58:00: Leisy wants to know about Ted Harvey’s SuperPAC to help Donald Trump. He wants to know why $9 million of the $14 million collected by that PAC went to organizational funding – including Harvey’s salary. This is going to be a YUGE problem for Harvey in general. 

Harvey says that his PAC was the second-largest pro-Trump PAC. Harvey says his PAC spent “tens of millions of dollars” to make sure that Trump won the election and spent “tens of millions of dollars” against Joe Biden. Harvey also says they spent millions and millions of dollars to help Senate candidates. These numbers do not add up.

60:00: Brauchler wants a show of hands: Do you have kids, and how many do you have?

Everybody has kids except for Peter Yu. Hooray. 

1:02:00: Brauchler asks a question of Harvey. “Would you support a federal abortion ban?”

HARVEY: Blah, blah, blah…eventually Harvey says he would sponsor a federal abortion ban “If Donald Trump was able to get a coalition together.” Leadership!

YU: “The last thing you want is the federal government running your life.” This probably isn’t a winning answer for Republican voters in CO-04, but kudos to Yu for being honest and consistent.

HOLTORF: Opposes a federal ban on abortion because it would open the door to the federal government doing other nefarious things. 

BOEBERT: She would support a federal abortion ban.

LEISY: Says abortion is a state’s right issue and that he would support a “heartbeat bill” at the state level…which is completely irrelevant for someone seeking FEDERAL OFFICE.

FLORA: Blah, blah, blah…doesn’t answer the question.

LYNCH: Abortion is a state’s rights issue.

PHELAN: Does not support a federal abortion ban.

SONNENBERG: Would support a federal abortion ban.

Harvey gets another chance to answer and says nothing more of interest. 

1:09:00: Luning says we are getting close to the end (Hallelujah!) but first a question for Holtorf: Would you vote for Mike Johnson for House Speaker knowing what you know today?

HOLTORF: “I believe I would.”

BOEBERT: Says she nominated Johnson and likes him, but that “The last CR (Continuing Resolution) was his last moment of grace and members are ready to take action” to remove him. Boebert says she would rather have Jim Jordan as House Speaker. 

LEISY: “Matt Gaetz is the hero here” for ousting Kevin McCarthy. Says he prefers Jim Jordan.

FLORA: Blah, blah, blah…”87,000 IRS agents”…blah, blah. Finally says she would prefer Jim Jordan.

LYNCH: Likes Johnson but prefers Jim Jordan.

PHELAN: Doesn’t like Johnson because he got involved in a Republican Primary in Colorado. Phelan doesn’t elaborate.

SONNENBERG: Says he would support Johnson but thinks it is ridiculous to kick anyone out of the Speaker’s chair.

HARVEY: Prefers Jim Jordan and brags about his PAC donating to Jordan. Says he would have opposed Johnson.

YU: Questions why Republicans keep trying to oust leaders without having a plan in place. 

Holtorf gets more time and uses it to rail against “dysfunctionality.” He says, “Republicans are constantly in a circular firing squad and stabbing each other in the back, and the real enemy is the progressive left!”

1:15:00: Time for 2-minute closing statements. We’d have more time if Brauchler would shut up and let the candidates talk.

1:15:45: Peter Yu says some stuff about how he will use the Congressional seat to help campaign for other Republicans around the state.

1:17:43: Holtorf talks about flying helicopters in the Army, which is why he understands border security [don’t ask us – we’re just repeating what he said]. Holtorf says he is the President and General Manager of Holtorf Incorporated, a multi-million dollar agricultural production company, and that he is the only candidate who serves on some sort of agricultural committee that nobody has ever heard of before. 

1:20:00: Boebert says she is a “proven fighter” and “battle tested” and has “lived through adversity.” She says she grew up in a “Democrat household,” and that’s why she knows about how bad “Democrat policies” have been. She’s told this story before, and it never makes sense; her argument, basically, is that Democrats kept her family in poverty by providing food stamps and other handouts. 

“I’m pro-life,” she says. “I am disgusted by some of the answers that were said up here. This did not sound like the Republican Party answering questions about pro-life. No-nonsense conservatives don’t have 60% voting ratings.”

After a closing statement that grew increasingly louder and more aggressive, Boebert finishes with, “God Bless you all. I love you.” LOL.

1:22:12: Leisy says he is “an America First” candidate, then has to stop for 5 seconds because he lost his train of thought. He continues with some gibberish about our children and grandchildren being safe, then he hammers Boebert. “It is time we send fighters to Washington D.C. that can fight – not people who move from one district to another just because they’re getting ready to lose that district.” 

1:24:15: Flora is running for Congress because America is great, yada, yada. She says she’s not a career politician. She holds up her “Roadmap to Restore America.” Flora’s entire speech could have been copied from any other Republican candidate in Colorado from the last decade. 

1:26:20: Lynch says he’s running because “I’m sick of being led by incompetent people.” Ironically, that’s what the House Republican caucus said just a few days ago when it tried to oust him as Minority Leader.

Lynch talks about the job being about representing the people, and not self-promotion – a clear dig at Boebert.

1:28:00: Phelan: “I’m your Huckleberry, and I’m asking for your vote.”

1:29:30: Sonnenberg thanks Steve Wells for sponsoring the event! He crawled out of his bunker!

Sonnenberg talks about being in the legislature for 16 years and lists off different issues he worked on at the State Capitol.

1:32:20: Ted Harvey says that Gabe Evans, who is running for Congress in CO-08, was an aide for him at the state legislature as a home-schooled high school kid. Neat! Harvey says he started a charter school for kids with dyslexia. 

“I believe that our nation is in the middle of a second Revolutionary War,” he says, then attacks the CIA, FBI, NSA, and every other acronym he can think of. 

And…we’re done!