Boebert challenger 'within striking distance' of unseating Colorado congresswoman

When Lauren Boebert won the Republican U.S. House primary election in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District in June, news outlets nationwide declared that her efforts to remain in Washington D.C. for another term — which included moving across the state, fending off a scandal at a Colorado theater and courting a different set of constituents — had paid off.

Political pundits expect the state’s most conservative district to stay solidly red, which would give Boebert an easy path to victory in the November election. A Democrat hasn’t won the seat, which spans wealthy Douglas County on the Front Range, agricultural Weld County in the north, and the vast farmlands of the Eastern Plains, since 2008.

The odds of a Democrat beating Boebert aren’t lost on her opponent, Trisha Calvarese, a native of Highlands Ranch and the daughter of two staunchly conservative Catholics. But to those who’ve written off a Democrat’s chance of winning, Calvarese says, “Just because something hasn’t been done, doesn’t mean it can’t.”

As of 2024, unaffiliated voters make up the largest voting bloc in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, and Calvarese said that while Boebert may wait to ramp up her campaign until the end of the summer, she’s not wasting any time between now and November.

“Everywhere I go, people tell me I can’t win,” Calvarese said. “At an event called Parker Days in downtown Parker, women came up to me asking me why I was there if I already knew the outcome.”

Yet Calvarese believes that the race to win the seat in November is far from over, especially considering the fundraising momentum she’s had since winning the primary.

According to Chas Goldman, a consultant for Calvarese, her campaign has raised more than $750,000 since June 24, largely from individual contributions averaging $23 per donation.

Boebert raised around $150,000 from June 1 to June 30, leaving her with nearly $530,000 in cash on hand, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, the most recent available.

Goldman said Calvarese’s campaign now has more than $380,000 cash on hand, edging her closer to being able to match Boebert’s spending.

Goldman also noted in a statement that “Trisha’s fundraising success comes on the heels of polling that shows her ‘ within striking distance’ of Lauren Boebert, with a clear path to victory in this race. The poll was conducted by Keating Research — the same firm that correctly predicted Boebert’s razor-close race in 2022.”

Boebert declined to comment for this story.

County by county

Calvarese and Boebert are the same age, 37, but they have vastly different backgrounds. Calvarese spent the last five years serving in various roles, including speechwriter at the National Science Foundation and director of speechwriting and communications at the AFL-CIO, a major federation of labor unions in the United States.

Before entering politics, Boebert owned Shooters Grill, a restaurant in Rifle, known for its staff’s open carrying of firearms.

Calvarese decided to enter the race after Boebert announced in late December that she was leaving her current congressional district, the 3rd, to run for the 4th District seat, vacated by Republican Rep. Ken Buck upon his retirement.

Calvarese said she felt called to step up after having moved home to Colorado to care for her terminally ill parents. Expanding access to health care for seniors is one of her main priorities.

“I started in January with zero name recognition and no campaign contributions. But, by picking up the phone and making call after call, I won my party’s support,” Calvarese said.

Her main primary opponent, Ike McCorkle, ran for the seat in 2020 and 2022 and had more than $300,000 cash on hand going into 2024.

Yet, Calvarese said she believes she won the Democratic nomination for Colorado’s special election and topline billing on the primary ballot because of her experience in the nation’s capital and having grown up in the district.

She said she also believes in “good old-fashioned phone calling and face-to-face meetings.” Calvarese plans to travel county by county to meet directly with voters. She said she’s challenged Boebert to debate her at each stop.

On the campaign trail

In the span of one July weekend, Calvarese walked alongside longhorn cattle in the Larimer County Fair and Rodeo parade, volunteered at the Democrats’ booth during the Douglas County Fair, spent hours on Zoom calls, and attended meet-and-greets in constituents’ homes.

She says she’s focused on serving the needs of all of the district’s constituents, regardless of their political ideology, and finding solutions that improve people’s lives in practical ways.

Improving lives is precisely what voters wanted to talk about during a meet-and-greet Calvarese recently attended in a volunteer’s home in Loveland. The audience expressed concerns that workers in the county’s oil and gas industry wouldn’t have the skills necessary to transition to renewable energy jobs.

Referring to her experience leading communications for the energy and climate branch of the AFL-CIO, Calvarese agreed that labor would lead the pathway to a clean energy future but said it shouldn’t come at the expense of coal miners and oil and gas folks.

“First, we need to ensure that job supplements are in place for anyone who needs to learn entirely new skills. And we need a representative who will fight to make Colorado’s Eastern Plains a leader in high-capacity electricity and storage,” she said.

Calvarese noted that Boebert voted against the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act, legislation she helped pass while working in communications for Trump appointee Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of the U.S. National Science Foundation. The act includes initiatives to develop a skilled workforce in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.

Loveland voters also expressed concern about the county’s lack of access to broadband internet and the need for federal money to help subsidize its expansion.

Calvarese pointed to a recent incident in which Boebert had a medical emergency and could text her doctor to find care at a nearby hospital.

“Two-thirds of our district would not have had access to that type of care or direct access to the hospital,” she said. “Never mind that the overwhelming majority would not have even been able to make a phone call or send a text because we don’t have the internet or cell service.”

Calvarese continued: “Yet, Boebert was happy to benefit from all of those services in a privileged way while voting against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, a bill that would invest in the nation’s infrastructure, including roads, bridges, and broadband.”

Calvarese then challenged Boebert’s stance on abortion access, relaying a personal story about a time when her mother had to abort an ectopic pregnancy to save her life. This act made Calvarese’s life possible. As a result, Calvarese said she’s not afraid to engage staunch conservatives on the subject.

“Douglas County has one of the highest rates of in vitro fertilization, and Boebert would take that away,” she said.

Calvarese was referring to Boebert’s support for the Life at Conception Act, which primarily aims to grant legal personhood to embryos from the moment of conception. If the act became law, it could potentially have implications for in vitro fertilization practices.

Calvarese also explained how Boebert voted against the Honoring Our PACT Act, which was a significant piece of legislation aimed at providing health care and benefits to veterans affected by toxic exposure, such as from burn pits used during military deployment.

According to data from the U.S. Office of Veterans Affairs, approximately 7.6% of the population in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District are veterans. This figure is slightly higher than the statewide average of 7.4% and above the national average of 6.2%.

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