Democrats smell blood in Colorado, with yet another prominent state liberal announcing their candidacy for a seat in the House of Representatives currently occupied by Republican Lauren Boebert.
This week, Anna Stout, the mayor of Grand Junction, announced that she would be running for the 3rd Congressional District seat. Her candidacy means there are now five Democrats who are running for that seat.
Stout joins David Karpas, Adam Withrow, Debby Burnett and Adam Frisch in the Democratic primary. Frisch only narrowly lost the race to Boebert in the last election cycle, and he is seen as the frontrunner among the Democrats.
Like the other four Democratic candidates before her, Stout attacked Boebert in her initial campaign ad, saying the congresswoman was too focused on personal political fights instead of serving the people who she is supposed to represent.
In the ad, Stout says:
“[A]s the mayor of the biggest city in western Colorado, I can tell you that having MAGA’s mouthpiece as our congresswoman is no joke because she cares more about building her brand than building the affordable housing we need.
“And while our farmers and ranchers desperately need a voice in water negotiations, she uses her voice for different priorities.”
Since Boebert only won re-election by a mere 54 votes during last November’s midterm elections, Democrats are considering her seat to be primed for a flip. Yet, Boebert’s campaign doesn’t seem to be phased.
In a statement, the campaign manager for Boebert’s re-election, Drew Sexton, said:
“Colorado Democrats can now choose which liberal candidate they would like to lose to Lauren Boebert: the mayor who brought Black Lives Matter protests to Grand Junction or Aspen Adam, the unemployed socialite who shamefully fundraises off the Frisch family business of abortion without any restrictions.”
While the results from the last election Boebert participated in alone show that she’s vulnerable to losing in next year’s election, Republicans are projecting some confidence over her ability to hang onto the seat. They are predicting that the Democratic primary could become very messy, and ultimately end up causing damage to whichever candidate ends up emerging as the one to face off against Boebert in the general election in November of 2024.
Delanie Bomar, who serves as a spokeswoman for the campaign arm of the House Republicans, said in a statement recently:
“While Anna Stout and Adam Frisch battle it out for who can go the farthest to the Left in their quest for the Democrat[ic] nomination, Republicans are delivering real results by creating jobs and protecting water rights in the district.
“It doesn’t matter who gets the Democrat[ic] nomination; they will be left broke, bruised and unpalatable for general election voters.”
The seat right now is rated as a “toss-up” by the Cook Political report, an election handicapping firm that is non-partisan.
Boebert’s seat in Colorado is crucial for both parties, as Republicans only hold a slight majority in the House of Representatives.
