For northern and eastern Colorado, there are many candidates for Congress on the primary ballot this June. Having lived in Logan County for the past 22 years and both of us having grown up in Congressional District 4, Cheyenne Wells in Kit Carson County (Byron) and Sterling in Logan County (Celeste), we would like to share our concerns surrounding some of the candidates and explain why we are voting for former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg.
Rep. Mike Lynch is a good legislator, and we don’t disagree with him on a lot of issues. What is concerning is that Lynch has been noticeably absent from the rural counties in CD4. CD4 includes over 20 counties and portions of a few others, but Lynch tends to stick to the largely populated counties for campaign purposes. While he has increased stops throughout CD4 over the last week, we find ourselves wondering if a stop to the rural counties isn’t important enough during campaign season, will he spend time on rural issues if elected?
Deb Flora is concerning as a candidate because we don’t feel we can trust her. Her campaign literature is misleading, implying that she has been elected and served on the state school board and in the state House when neither is true. She said she stood behind and agreed to go through the caucus process, and then backed out last minute. Additionally, her debate answers have changed from night to night depending on the location and audience.
With so many candidates in the CD4 race, it was important for the candidates that live in CD4 to unite behind one candidate to run against Congresswoman Lauren Boebert. Boebert is the candidate who fled to our district when the Congressional District 3 race where she lived became difficult. The CD4 candidates, minus Boebert, agreed that the winner of a straw poll would be the candidate that remained on the ballot and all others would drop out of the race. At the 11th hour, Flora backed out of the straw poll, effectively nullifying its purpose and goal. We suppose that’s what you decide to do when you are only convinced you can win one heavily populated county.
Rep. Richard Holtorf lost all our support when he abandoned agriculture during the March election to select a Republican nominee without experience in farming to fill Congressman Ken Buck’s vacant seat.
There will be two elections this June. A primary with all the candidates discussed in this column, and an election to select someone who will serve for six months to finish out Buck’s term.
During the process to select a nominee, Holtorf and Lynch had been eliminated and the final vote was between Jerry Sonnenberg and Greg Lopez. Holtorf endorsed and encouraged his supporters to vote for Lopez. He didn’t support the fellow farmer and rancher from Logan County. Holtorf threw all his support behind a businessman from Parker, who had to ask what a center pivot sprinkler was on a campaign stop to eastern Colorado.
Colorado is one of the top agricultural states in the country. Colorado makes approximately $47 billion annually and every one of the top 10 agriculture-producing counties in Colorado can be found in CD4. The winner of the election to fill Buck’s vacant seat will work on the U.S. farm bill. The farm bill is legislation that is passed approximately every five years. This legislation significantly affects farmers, ranchers, and producers. It affects farming practices, what foods are grown, and essentially everything from farm to table.
Making sure Jerry Sonnenberg didn’t have a leg up as the incumbent was more important to Holtorf, than making sure we had someone in office who knows and understands agriculture for this critical legislation.
Lauren Boebert doesn’t know CD4. She doesn’t know this district, its constituents, or its strengths and challenges. At one of the first political campaign events of this year, a constituent in Washington County questioned Boebert by asking if she even lived in the district. She told them yes, and that she had just found a place in Wiggins. One of her aides quietly corrected her and told her Windsor was where she moved. How can you effectively represent a district you know nothing about?
We’ve had people tell us they are voting for Boebert because “she’s a fighter” and “she’s not afraid to get on TV and speak her mind”. We would ask you to consider that being an effective legislator is much more than being loud and being on TV.
Boebert has not passed a single piece of legislation that she has introduced. Not one.
I would challenge you to research all the CD4 candidates before voting. Go to YouTube and type in each name. Look at how many candidates are busy covering up bad choices, immoral behavior, and embarrassing speaking blunders. Then research the legislation they have passed. If we want to get Colorado back on track, we need to be voting for candidates that are honorable and have a fierce work ethic.
The other candidates try to insult Sonnenberg by calling him an establishment Republican – because the only negative they can come up with is that Jerry Sonnenberg has served Colorado as a well-respected legislator. He has passed significant and impactful legislation for Colorado. He has been awarded countless times as a top legislator and was chosen to chair multiple committees and serve as Senate Pro Tempore.
We are convinced that he will do an outstanding job representing CD4 as a U.S. Representative. We would urge you to help put Colorado back on track by voting for Jerry Sonnenberg on your Republican primary ballot.
State Sen. Byron H. and Celeste Pelton live just north of Sterling, Colorado. Byron is a U.S. Navy veteran and master electrician by trade. He served as a Logan County Commissioner for six years before he ran and was elected to Colorado State Senate District 1, which includes all or part of Logan, Morgan, Philips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld, and Yuma counties. Celeste worked as a professor of music for 17 years before moving to administration, where she oversees liberal arts and academic opportunity at the local college. Together they raise two active teenage daughters, Mattea and Elliana, and together run a small cow-calf operation.
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