The Haxtun-Fleming Herald - What can we reason but from what we know? -Alexander Pope

When Colorado Congressman Ken Buck announced on Nov. 1, 2023 that he would not seek another term for office, there was no shortage of interested individuals coming forward to vie for his 4th Congressional District seat. To help Phillips County constituents become acquainted with the eleven Republican candidates, the Phillips County Republican Party initiated a CD4 Republican candidate forum. They expanded it to a regional event by working collaboratively with the Republican party leadership in Sedgwick and Yuma counties.

The forum was held at the Phillips County Event Center on Sunday afternoon of March 3. Nine of the eleven Republican candidates participated. An estimated 230-250 individuals attended, including the volunteer organizers of the event.

After hearing from the candidates, participants were offered an opportunity to list up to three candidates who they could foresee voting for. This straw poll's outcome had Jerry Sonnenberg with the most votes at 55, followed by Ted Harvey with 38 and Lauren Boebert with 30. Vote counts in rank order for the remaining candidates were Richard Holtorf-19; Trent Leisy-16; Deborah Flora-14; Chris Phelan-8; Floyd Trujillo-2; Mike Lynch and Peter Yu-1 each.

Justin Schreiber, who was invited but did not attend, received zero votes. He did, however, submit a photo and bio for the printed program. Peter Yu was expected to attend but unanticipated personal business cancelled his appearance. Since the forum, Trent Leisy dropped out of the race.

Kim Monson, host of two radio shows on KLZ platforms, emceed the event and moderated the question and answer session. All nine candidates on the dais answered each of the nine questions posed. Questions requested each candidate's position on, or the ways each would address, the following topics: cutting and balancing the federal budget; how to secure the southern border and address illegal aliens; parental rights over schools and medical intrusions; support for the U.S. Constitution's 2nd Amendment; stance on Pro-Life; support for term limits and what that would look like; how to assure free and fair elections; property rights and related food processing concerns; and, Independents voting in Republican primary elections.

Lightening round questions, for which a question could be answered with just a yes or no, were asked in between the questions that needed explanations. Candidates indicated a "yes" by raising their hands. Lightening round questions covered: who, if any, was petitioning themselves onto the ballot; if they would support the Republican Party's CD4 final nominee for the general election; would they request serving on the Agriculture Committee if elected; do they support the reauthorization of the Farm Bill; do they think English should be the country's official language; and, do they support the state Republican Party's federal lawsuit to close the primary elections (meaning unaffiliated voters could not vote).

Several individuals were available for more personal visits at exhibit tables prior to, and after the Q&A session. This included the two candidates running for House District 63, Dusty Johnson, and Brian Urdiales. Both are from Fort Morgan. The seat was vacated by Richard Holtorf when he decided to run to represent CD4.

Members of Phillips, Sedgwick and Yuma counties' Republican Central Committees were also present, as were numerous elected officials from all three counties.

Since the March 3 candidate forum, Congressman Buck announced he would resign, effective March 22, instead of retire. A special election will be held to determine who will serve out the remainder of his term to conclude in January 2025. To hold the seat, that person will have to have won their party's primary election and the general election in November.

Democrat candidates for CD4 include Karen Breslin, Trisha Calvarese, Ike McCorkle, John Padora, Jr., and Anil Saxena. Douglas Mangeris is running as a Libertarian.

Colorado's 2024 primary election is June 25.