By BRIAN PORTER | Rocky Mountain Voice
DENVER — Deborah Flora captured another straw poll win Saturday on the eve of primary ballots beginning to populate mail boxes across the district and the state.
Following an exchange with 4th Congressional District opponent Richard Holtorf over the financial status of her non-profit and the service of family and spouses to active duty military, Flora captured the Republican Rumble straw poll victory here at the Grizzly Rose. Flora, viewed by some to be a front-runner with Lauren Boebert, earned 24.8% of the straw votes.
“I’m humbled again for this latest straw poll victory. From Douglas to Weld and Kit Carson to Prowers, I’ve worked tirelessly to hear your concerns and be your voice for Congress,” Flora said. “We’re building on that momentum together to win the final poll on June 25.”
Mike Lynch was a close second with 32 votes, followed by Boebert (22) and Holtorf (22), Jerry Sonnenberg (19) and Peter Yu (11). Boebert did not attend the Republican Rumble for several reasons her campaign provided, among those being this was the second debate hosted by the same organization, it was the fourth event in four days and among about 15 debates total in the district, and this was the final weekend to campaign with voters prior to ballots starting to hit the mailstream.
In the 8th District race, Gabe Evans gathered 78% of straw votes, defeating Janak Joshi, 103-29.
Additionally, a straw poll was held in the 4th District special election race. Greg Lopez drew 60% of the vote, although he announced less than 24 hours before the event he would not attend as a result of not getting the hosting organization’s endorsement in advance of the Rumble. Of those participating, Libertarian Party chairwoman Hannah Goodman earned 34 votes to easily defeat Democrat Trisha Calvarese (9) and American Voting Party candidate Frank Atwood (2).