Candidate Q&A: Colorado’s 4th Congressional District

A view of the dome of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 25, 2022. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline)

Coloradans will elect representatives to the 119th Congress in all eight of the state’s congressional districts in 2024. Members will be sworn in to serve two-year terms beginning on Jan. 3, 2025.

Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives, which they have used to stonewall President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda while targeting his administration with a spree of investigations and impeachment inquiries. Democrats are looking to flip the lower chamber while holding on to the White House and the U.S. Senate.

The 4th District includes Colorado’s Eastern Plains along with more suburban areas in Douglas County and along the northern Front Range. Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who currently represents the 3rd District centered on the state’s Western Slope, won the 4th District’s GOP primary with 43.7% of the vote in June.

Boebert’s decision last year to switch districts followed an announcement by former Rep. Ken Buck, who had represented the heavily Republican 4th District since 2015, that he would not seek reelection. Buck subsequently resigned in March, and the 4th District is currently represented by Republican Rep. Greg Lopez, a self-described placeholder who won a June special election to serve the remainder of Buck’s term.

Boebert faces Democrat Trisha Calvarese, a speechwriter and communications professional, and three minor party candidates: Frank Atwood of the Approval Voting Party, Hannah Goodman of the Libertarian Party and Paul Noel Fiorino of the Unity Party.

Registered voters in Colorado should soon receive their ballots in the mail for the Nov. 5 general election, which includes races for president, Congress, the state Legislature, the University of Colorado Board of Regents and other local positions, as well as a handful of statewide ballot measures.

Voters can contact their county clerk if they have not received their ballot or check the online BallotTrax system. They can also visit the secretary of state’s website to make a plan to vote in person ahead of or on Election Day. Ballots need to be received by the county clerk by 7 p.m. on that day, so voters should make a plan to mail their ballot at least eight days ahead of time or drop it off in person.

Boebert, Atwood, Goodman and Fiorino did not return questionnaires.

Key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire in 2025. Which if any of these tax cuts should Congress extend, and what other significant changes to the federal tax code would you support?

CALVARESE: Costs right now are way too high. I feel it at the grocery store and the gas pump with my family. But instead of working to get costs down, Rep. Lauren Boebert has been cheering on huge tax cuts for the wealthiest corporations and her billionaire donors, while hardworking families in Colorado struggle. I’ll fight to extend tax cuts for middle-class families and small businesses — because that’s who really needs the relief. But the tariff plan supported by my opponent would raise taxes by over $4,000 on Colorado families. I believe that the way we invest in America’s future and American competitiveness is with smart investments that create American jobs and ensure we are building the industries of the future in our communities. Tax increases don’t help us in that effort, and that’s why I oppose tax-raising tariffs.

What legislation would you pursue in Congress relating to abortion and reproductive rights?

CALVARESE: I support a federal law that protects a woman’s right to choose. The government has no place in personal health care decisions. Families thrive when women have access to local, affordable reproductive care, including maternal and miscarriage care. A national abortion ban, especially without exceptions for rape, incest, or life of the mother, is harmful and gives the government control over women’s bodies. We must restore the rights taken away when Roe v. Wade was overturned and protect reproductive freedom. My mother almost lost her life because of an ectopic pregnancy, but she got the care she needed because of the protections of Roe v. Wade. Stories like hers remind us that abortion access is a matter of life and death. But Rep. Lauren Boebert supports extreme abortion bans with no exceptions for rape of incest. That’s unacceptable. I’ll never back down when it comes to protecting reproductive rights.

Do you support Donald Trump’s plans for the “largest mass deportation in the history of our country,” including deployment of the National Guard in Colorado communities to forcibly deport all of the approximately 200,000 undocumented immigrants residing in the state?

CALVARESE: I believe we need to secure the border and address our immigration challenges. I start from a worker perspective. When people can be exploited because of their documentation status, it creates a race to the bottom, hurts all workers, and defiles American values. The current system is broken, we need to fix it — enforce our laws, secure the border, and stop playing games. We had an opportunity to pass a broadly popular, bipartisan border bill this year. It would have sent over 1,500 new agents to secure the border and invested in critical technology to stop fentanyl from entering our country. But Congresswoman Lauren Boebert and other extreme politicians stopped it. They put politics before the country, headlines over solutions.

Long-term inflation in housing and health care costs are responsible for the biggest strain on household budgets compared to a generation ago. What can Congress do to reduce the costs of owning or renting a home or accessing medical care?

CALVARESE: To address inflation, we must focus on creating sustainable economic opportunities, passing comprehensive labor law reforms, and safeguarding Medicare and Social Security. Political gridlock and corporate price gouging have left working families unable to afford everyday essentials like food and housing. We need to build pathways to well-paying jobs that make the middle class attainable and sustainable once again. Colorado’s 4th District is one of the nation’s leading agricultural producers, yet many families still face food insecurity. This is unacceptable. Additionally, skyrocketing housing costs and rising property taxes are squeezing young families and long-time residents alike. We need targeted policies to address these issues, such as increasing affordable housing, providing property tax relief, and supporting local agriculture to ensure that no one in our community goes hungry. By tackling these problems head-on, we can create a more equitable and prosperous future for all Coloradans.

Many Coloradans surveyed by the statewide Voter Voices project list their top issue this election year as democracy and good governance. As a member of Congress, how would you seek to find common ground with members of the opposite party, and rebuild shared trust in our elections and institutions?

CALVARESE: Rep. Lauren Boebert’s brand of politics is all about spreading lies, and sowing distrust. She’s part of the reason why so many people are losing faith in our elections and government. I believe in finding common ground. That’s why I worked with a Trump appointee to protect American workers and stand up to China. I’ll work across the aisle when it benefits the people of our district, but I will always stand up for truth and integrity — something Rep. Boebert clearly doesn’t care about.