Tom Tancredo, a former U.S. House representative and hardliner on immigration, has endorsed Lauren Boebert, a gun-toting restaurant owner from Rifle, who is running against Scott Tipton in the Republican primary for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.

Tancredo emphasized Boebert’s willingness to enforce immigration laws and tighten the U.S. border with Mexico.

“When a leading advocate in Congress for strong borders says he is going to endorse me, that says a lot,” Boebert told The Durango Herald.

Tancredo also focused on immigration and border security throughout his 10 years in office from 1999 to 2009.

Boebert said secure borders are a top priority for her, and that Tipton should not have voted in support of the Farm Workers Modernization Act, which provides temporary legal status to agricultural workers who entered the country illegally to fill a growing need for seasonal workers in the state.

“There is a battle going on for the heart and soul of our country,” Boebert said, adding that she sees the choices as either freedom or socialism.

Tipton and Boebert are both Republicans, but Boebert said she is more conservative and more willing to communicate with the public on her policy decisions.

“We are tired of elitists thinking that we don’t know any better,” and that we don’t understand what our representatives are voting for and why, Boebert said in reference to Tipton’s vote for the Farm Workforce Modernization Act.

Some people have told Boebert she shouldn’t run for office. But Boebert said she can do the job better than Tipton.

Tipton said he will continue to work on the issues important to people in the 3rd Congressional District, such as protecting private rights to water, protecting land for ranchers from federal control, seeking solutions to the opioid crisis in rural areas, standing up for veterans and creating jobs after Tri-State Generation and Transmission announced it will close coal facilities in Colorado.

Reforms to the Endangered Species Act that Tipton is working on will give people access to more public lands for recreation, while also coordinating with private stakeholders to rehabilitate species, he said.

Tipton voted against both articles of impeachment for President Donald Trump last month, and he introduced the Water Rights Protection Act in 2016 to prevent federal agencies from taking the water rights of ski companies like Purgatory Resort, since they operate resorts over sections of federal land.

“Politics will take care of themselves, but we’ve got a job to do and we will keep doing it,” Tipton said.

Emily Hayes is a graduate student at American University in Washington, D.C., and an intern for The Durango Herald.

If you go

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, and his opponent in the primary election, Lauren Boebert, owner of Shooters Grill in Rifle, are scheduled to speak Feb. 8 during the morning session of the annual meeting of the Southwestern Colorado Livestock Association in Cortez. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the Cortez Elks Lodge, 2100 Dolores Road.