By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
It is a largely rural area of Colorado, where cattle outnumber voters and where Donald Trump won by an 18.6% margin in his second bid for the presidency in 2020.
One pollster termed the 4th District “MAGA Country”, for the area’s affinity toward the 45th President of the United States. In rural areas of the district, semi-truck trailers in numerous communities are retired to fields and painted in tribute to Donald Trump, and it is not uncommon to see a pop-up corner market of MAGA merchandise for sale on a weekend near busy intersections in places like Fort Morgan.
Whether rural or urban, there’s not a significant difference in Republican opinion toward the former President in the district.
So, it may come as little surprise Republican candidates for the 4th Congressional District seat, opened by the resignation of Rep. Ken Buck earlier this year, had strong feelings when a unanimous verdict of a New York jury was announced Thursday, handing Trump 34 felony convictions and the potential for jail time in a case with various Constitutional and legal failings.
“It is almost not surprising because of where they held the trial, where they found the jury,” said Rep. Lauren Boebert, a candidate for the 4th District nomination. “They’re in New York and unfortunately this was rigged from the beginning against President Trump.”
Trump endorsed Boebert in the race, but every candidate makes a point on the campaign trail to express some level of support for the former — and potentially future — President.
“Whether someone supports President Trump’s candidacy or not, this unprecedented and deeply flawed case should trouble every American,” said Deborah Flora, another candidate in the race. “We must get back to where we can trust that our judicial branch is not being politicized or weaponized. Equal justice under the law is a bedrock of our freedoms.”
How strongly do residents of the 4th District feel toward Trump? State Rep. Richard Holtorf once predicted Trump’s endorsement would decide the race.
“The Trump court ruling today is very disappointing for many Trump supporters across the country, including me,” he said. “The legal system is working and the case will need to go through all of the judicial levels, up to and including the US Supreme Court.”
Holtorf’s congressional campaign staff described him as ‘disappointed’ in the verdict and ‘awaiting’ appeals.
Jerry Sonnenberg, an Eastern Colorado county commissioner and previously elected from within the district as both a state representative and senator, indicated his feel the trial and conviction was wholly improper.
“This is a huge miscarriage of justice, a textbook definition of a witchhunt,” he said. “A political justice system is not only unAmerican, it is the exact opposite of what our forefathers envisioned.”
Holtorf and Sonnenberg are well-known and popular cattle raisers in far Northeastern Colorado, residing fairly close in proximity to one another. Some have theorized they are splitting the rural vote in the 4th District. Two other candidates for the seat did not respond to requests for comment on the Trump verdict.
Only one of the six candidates remaining in the race and appearing on the ballot in the 4th District also appeared in the New York courtroom in support of Trump. Boebert sat in the gallery behind Trump and nearby Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
“As we all knew, this was ALWAYS about election interference and stopping President Trump from winning his rightful re-election to the White House,” Boebert wrote on Twitter. “The American people see through the Democrat games and know this is a sham verdict. We stand with PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP!”
Back home on the ranch, Holtorf learned of the verdict outside his small town of Akron, with a population smaller than some Greeley subdivisions.
“Nobody should prejudicially determine any outcome. We will wait and allow the judicial system to go through all of the proper steps,” he said. “A U.S. Supreme Court hearing is likely to be forthcoming. Any jury bias that may exist in New York courts will lessen as the case moves through the appeal process.”
The district provided Trump a clear victory in the Presidential primary election, contributing to 63.5% statewide support over Nikki Haley, and don’t expect the 4th District — Trump’s most reliable voting block in Colorado — to change any this fall.