By DERRICK WILBURN | Rocky Mountain Voice
The Sunrise Republican Women’s annual summer picnic took place April 4 at a private residence in Monument under fabulous weather.
More than 100 local conservatives attended the picnic, a who’s who of El Paso County elected officials and candidates for office.
Those attending were U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, who is retiring from the 5th District at the end of the calendar year; 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen; State Sen. Larry Liston from District 10; El Paso County Commissioners Stan VanderWerf, Longinos Gonzales and Holly Williams; County Treasurer Chuck Broerman; Colorado Springs City Councilman Dave Donelson; State Rep. Don Wilson from District 20; and Jeff Crank, the Republican nominee for the 5th District seat in the U.S. House, among others. VanderWerf is also running for Colorado Senate District 12.
Lamborn will retire from Congress after nine, two-year terms. He led off speeches from elected officials and candidates, thanking “hugely supportive” people of the district for unwavering support. He then gave an oral endorsement of his heir apparent, Crank.
Crank won by a significant margin in the Republican primary, setting the probability he would become the next congressman in one of the two most reliably red districts in the state and the western U.S. The Cook Political Report has the district as R+9 and the 4th District in Eastern Colorado, where Rep. Lauren Boebert is the nominee, as R+13. Republicans are hoping to at least flip the toss-up 8th District in November and also hold Boebert’s present 3rd District to create a split of House seats with the Democratic Party. Former ICE regional director John Fabbricatore is hopeful he may be able to defeat Democrat Rep. Jason Crow in the 6th District to potentially give Republicans a two-seat swing.
Crank echoed the sentiment of many speaking at the event for Republicans to end the drama of intra-party bickering, unite and work as a unified team to secure key victories.
“It’s so nice to see all these candidates and all these supporters coming together in a unified way,” said Sunrise Republican Women Chairwoman Robin Little. “If we can enjoy one another’s company at a picnic for an afternoon, we certainly can do the same for Sunday afternoon campaign door-knocking! We need to become one party again and one with a single focus: winning.”