The Colorado League of Women Voters is hosting a virtual forum at 6 p.m. Wednesday for primary candidates seeking election to Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.
The forum will feature Republican candidates Lauren Boebert and Don Coram as well as Democratic candidates Adam Frisch, Sol Sandoval and Alex Walker. It will be moderated by Sara Blackhurst, the CEO of Action 22, a nonpartisan public policy organization.
Those interested in viewing can register to watch on Zoom (https://bit.ly/3xrryFs) or tune in via Facebook Live. Candidates will respond to questions from members of the League of Women Voters as well as questions submitted by the general public.
Colorado’s primary election is on June 28, and ballots were mailed out to voters starting on Monday.
Lauren Boebert is the incumbent for the 3rd Congressional District. She defeated five-term representative Scott Tipton in 2020. Boebert is known for being a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and owns a gun-themed restaurant in Rifle. Boebert is a strong ally and supporter of former President Donald Trump, backing his belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him and voted to overturn its results during the electoral vote count. Boebert opposes the Equity Act, supports overturning Roe v. Wade, and opposes President Joe Biden’s America the Beautiful initiative, also known as the “30 x 30” plan.
Don Coram is a state senator for Colorado Senate District 6 and has been a state senator since 2017. Previously, Coram represented District 58 in the Colorado House of Representatives from 2011-17 and has been a rancher and a miner. Coram has presented himself as a moderate and has supported issues including marijuana legalization and increasing access to rural broadband.
All three Democrats are running primary campaigns based on unseating Boebert. A Democrat has not represented the district in more than a decade, and a recent redistricting has given district Republicans a nine-point advantage.
Adam Frisch is a former Aspen City Council member who is running as a centrist. Frisch is a business owner and his primary platform is making Boebert a one-term member of Congress. He wants to emphasize rural issues and working across the aisle and bring “common sense” to the House if elected.
Sol Sandoval is a community activist and organizer and is the only one of the democratic candidates to have gotten on the ballot from the district assembly process. Sandoval is also running an anti-Boebert campaign and wants to work on immigration reform, access to health care and protecting public lands.
Alex Walker is an engineer who entered the race in March with a now-viral YouTube video taking aim at Boebert. Walker has no political background and lives in Eagle County, which is in the 2nd Congressional District, not the 3rd. Candidates are not required to live in the districts they represent, as long as they live in the state the district is located in. Walker has described himself as a moderate who wants to find nonpartisan solutions. Walker’s campaign has relied on social media such as TikTok to reach younger voters.
Nina Heller is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at nheller@durangoherald.com.
