Greg Lopez, Republican candidate in Colorado’s upcoming special election for the 4th Congressional District, canceled his participation in a debate scheduled for the following day against Democrats and third-party opponents after the Republican organization hosting the debate refused to endorse Lopez before the debate.
Lopez, a two-time candidate for governor, is one of four candidates running to fill the remainder of former Republican Rep. Ken Buck’s term in a district in the state’s heavily Republican eastern plains in the June 25 election. Also running in the race are Democrat Trisha Calvarese, Libertarian Party candidate Hannah Goodman and Approval Vote Party candidate Frank Atwood.
Lopez agreed to face off against all three of her opponents on Saturday afternoon in late April at a day-long debate hosted by Republican Women of Weld and the Lincoln Club of Colorado, groups that support Republican candidates, at the Grizzly Rose, a country bar in north Denver. The program also includes debates between the Republican primary candidates in the 4th and 8th Congressional Districts.
Lopez and Carvalle have debated twice before, once on 630 KHOW’s “Dan Caprice” show and once at a closed-door event at a senior living facility in Highlands Ranch, but Saturday’s debate will be the only one that features all four candidates. Saturday’s debate will be moderated by Colorado political reporter Ernest Luening, political strategist and 9News commentator Kelly Maher, Colorado Sun reporter Jesse Paul and Rourke Media owner Chris Luke.
The debate is scheduled to take place just days before ballots are mailed to Colorado voters. The 4th District special election, to fill the state’s first vacant U.S. House seat in more than 40 years, will be held on the same ballot as the state’s primary election.
But earlier this week, Lopez demanded that the women’s group Weld formally endorse her before she took the stage. A spokesperson for the group told Colorado Politics that the group told Lopez it would not do so, saying it would conflict with their role as debate moderators. Tammy Klein, vice president of the women’s group Weld, said she told Lopez the group would be happy to revisit the issue after the debate.
Lopez notified the group on Friday that he would be skipping the debate with less than 24 hours before it was scheduled to begin, saying in an email that he was “troubled” by the group’s decision not to endorse “the only Republican candidate” in the special election, a position he argued goes against the group’s bylaws.
“It’s very disappointing,” Klein told Colorado Politics, noting that the organization has a long history of hosting lively, well-attended primary and general election debates, including a gubernatorial primary debate two years ago in the same location as Lopez.
Colorado Politics was unable to reach Lopez on Friday, but a campaign adviser sent him a written statement via text message outlining the candidate’s positions.
“I was recently notified that the debate organizers are violating the terms of service,” Lopez said. “Because their violations pertain to my race for Congress, I believe it would be inappropriate for me to participate in Saturday’s debate. My team will be participating in the debate and will continue to engage with the voters of the 4th Congressional District.”
In an email obtained by Colorado Politics, an official with the Colorado Federation of Republican Women, the parent organization of the Weld Women’s League, told the group’s leaders on Friday that they felt the debate moderators did not violate any rules.
Lopez’s campaign has repeatedly asked debate organizers to specify which rules they violated, but has not responded.
Carballes told Colorado Politics he was looking forward to the opportunity to debate Lopez in front of a mostly Republican audience, adding that he thought Lopez might have been “upset” during their previous meeting.
“I’m especially grateful to the Weld County Women’s Association for inviting me to the forum,” Calvarese said. “People are craving female leadership and I’m looking forward to it.”
Colorado Democratic Party Chairman Shad Murib questioned Lopez’s move.
“Greg Lopez is terrified of the debates because he knows the more people know about him, the more likely he is to lose this election,” Murib said in a text message. “Republican leadership has never been more ruthlessly and pathetically weak than it is right now.”
Goodman, the Libertarian Party candidate and state chair of the party, said he wasn’t troubled by Lopez’s decision to skip the debate.
“This is an opportunity to highlight all the reasons why Libertarians are far more committed to the principles of liberty than the moderate Republican candidate,” Goodman said in a text message.
“Overall, as a sixth-generation Coloradan who fights for rural Colorado and our way of life, I believe I would be a much better representative for the 4th District than Greg Lopez,” she added.
