Denver, CO
Straw poll shows trouble for Boebert in 4th District but there are still five months to go
FORT LUPTON — Lauren Boebert landed in fifth place in a straw poll conducted at a 4th Congressional District debate this week, a decidedly middle-of-the-pack showing among the nine Republican candidates who showed up for the event.
While the survey of just over 100 Republicans on Thursday at the Fort Lupton Recreation Center is a tiny sliver of the party’s nearly 190,000 registered voters who live in the eastern Colorado district, it did provide an initial peek into the kind of ground game the 37-year-old congresswoman will have to stand up to secure the nomination in a part of the state that doesn’t know her well.
Boebert made headlines last month, and rankled many fellow Republicans, when she announced that she would abandon her largely Western Slope 3rd District seat to run for Congress in the 4th. She was facing a tough battle against a rejuvenated Democratic foe who had nearly beaten her in the last election and was far outraising her in the money game. She also faced a significant challenge from members of her own party in next June’s primary.
Thursday night’s straw poll was the first tangible indication that the welcome mat across the 21 mostly rural counties that make up the district won’t roll out easily for the GOP firebrand.
Boebert admitted as much at the debate, telling the audience that her presence in the race — with her comparatively flush campaign war chest and unrivaled name recognition — in no way added up to a “coronation.”
“I’m here to earn your support, earn your vote,” she said.
Boebert garnered 12 votes in the straw poll, trailing state Rep. Richard Holtorf (17), conservative radio host Deborah Flora (18) and state Rep. Mike Lynch (20). Logan County Commissioner Jerry Sonnenberg, a former state lawmaker, got the most at 22.
The 4th District gathering was one of two debates hosted by the Republican Women of Weld at the Fort Lupton Recreation Center. The other featured three GOP candidates vying to represent Colorado’s newly formed 8th Congressional District.
Democratic political strategist Andy Boian said Boebert is “an opportunistic wannabe” whose attempt to obtain a new congressional seat is already “finished.”
“What last night proved was that Colorado voters are smart, and regardless of party, they take exception to those who wreak havoc and nonsense,” Boian said Friday. “My feeling about CD4 is it is so wrapped in conservative values and ideology, the only option is the most viable Republican to win, and that’s Sonnenberg.”
Sandra Hagen Solin, a GOP political strategist, agreed that Boebert’s district switch will do her no favors with voters who like and respect “those whom they know and have served in various capacities in the district.”
“She will need to overcome that hurdle with the broader primary voter base but she still benefits from her high name recognition and 10 candidates that will split the vote in a plurality-wins race,” she said.
Latino faceoff in November?
Because of the 4th Congressional District’s overwhelmingly Republican-friendly electorate, whoever wins the June GOP primary will more than likely go on to victory in November. But in the 8th District, a swath of suburbs and farmland stretching from Commerce City to Greeley, the outcome is far less certain.
Three Republican contenders — Weld County Commissioner Scott James, state Rep. Gabe Evans and Air Force vet Joe Andujo — sat for their own debate earlier in the evening Thursday. The 8th Congressional District, formed in 2021 and represented by Democrat Yadira Caraveo for just over a year, is nearly evenly split between Democrats, Republicans and independents.
Caraveo, a Thornton pediatrician and former state lawmaker, won the seat in 2022 by fewer than 2,000 votes out of more than 200,000 cast over Republican state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer — a victory many election watchers attributed to the presence of a Libertarian candidate in the race.
The men struck a singularly conservative tone on issues ranging from medical treatments for transgender youth to abortion to immigration to impeachment of President Biden.
“Do I support a law that would stop children from altering their bodies? Yes,” James said of surgeries and other medical interventions that some transgender minors have undergone.
On the topic of impeachment, Evans said an investigation into the “Biden crime family” is warranted.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” he said.
None of the candidates favored a federal abortion ban, despite Colorado’s Democrat-dominated legislature passing one of the most robust abortion access bills in the country in 2022. All three described themselves as strongly pro-life but said the decision about what restrictions to place on the procedure should be made at the local level.
“That’s where it should have been all along,” Andujo said of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision removing Constitutional protections for abortion and returning the issue to the states.
That’s in marked contrast to Caraveo’s outspoken support for abortion rights.
The 8th district candidates all called for the country’s southern border to be closed, following a record surge of migrants crossing into the United States — thousands of whom have arrived in Denver in recent months, costing the city upward of $35 million so far.
“No. 1, we must secure the border — yesterday,” said James, who noted the impact of deadly fentanyl trafficked into the country. “One illegal crossing is one too many.”
Two of the GOP contenders — Andujo and Evans — are Latino, a factor that could prove decisive in a district that is 40% Latino. Caraveo’s victory in 2022 was attributed by some to Hispanics identifying with her and rallying around her, making her Colorado’s first Latina in Congress.
Evans easily won the straw poll Thursday, garnering 69 votes to James’ 33 and Andujo’s 13.
Boian, the Democratic strategist, said this time around Caraveo is “running on a record, experience and intellect” as opposed to when she was making her national debut two years ago.
“The fact she’s a Latina only benefits her,” he said. “While the end of the first term is the best time to try and unseat an incumbent, I don’t see it happening here.”
Carpetbagger claims
In the 4th Congressional District debate, immigration was also a major topic among the nine Republican candidates vying to win the seat. Businessman Peter Yu, who has unsuccessfully run for Congress and the U.S. Senate in Colorado, said his parents “escaped” China in the late 1960s.
“I owe it to this country that I pay this back,” he said. “It is time to put Americans first.”
Former state lawmaker Ted Harvey took one of the more rigid stances against illegal immigration, saying he would support deporting anyone who had entered the country without authorization in the last two years.
“We need to be honest with them and tell them they can’t come here illegally,” he said.
A moment of levity came when the candidates were asked if they had ever been arrested. Six of nine hands went up. Notably, Lynch this week lost his minority leader role in the Colorado House after his 2022 arrest for DUI came to light recently.
Holtorf told the audience he has been arrested twice for fighting — “because someone needed a little attitude adjustment.”
And of course, Boebert was challenged for her district switch at the end of December. Lynch asked her to define the term “carpetbagger,” a query that drew muted gasps from the audience.
Flora asked Boebert how she could make such a move after she had criticized former Democratic state lawmaker Kerry Donovan for announcing a congressional run in the 3rd District when Donovan didn’t live there.
“Running for office is a calling, not a career move,” Boebert said in 2021. “Perhaps Ms. Donovan should focus on where she lives, works and votes instead of trying to increase her political position by pandering to folks she doesn’t even know.”
Boebert countered that Donovan never intended to move into the 3rd District but that she had already established residency in the 4th. Boebert’s new home is in Windsor.
“The crops may be different in Colorado’s 4th District, but the values aren’t,” she said.
Hagen Solin, the Republican strategist, said Boebert’s conservative bona fides may be just enough to land her on top in June.
“You will see the vast majority of primary voters voting for someone other than Congresswoman Boebert,” she said. “Boebert, however, is well positioned to win the plurality vote given her name recognition that extends across the 4th, unlike that of any of the other candidates.”
Denver, CO
From fun to chaos: Teen describes meetup at Shops at Northfield that led to police response
DENVER — Denver7 is following up after receiving countless messages from concerned parents and neighbors about a gathering that involved hundreds of teens at a Denver shopping center on Sunday.
According to the Denver Police Department, roughly 300 teenagers were present near The Shops at Northfield on Sunday around 6 p.m. The police department called the gathering a “planned event” that was “reportedly organized by juveniles.”
Police told Denver7 the group entered different businesses and “engaged in physical altercations among themselves.”
David Sanchez
Officers arrived to disperse the group in order to prevent “further escalation,” according to Denver PD. Some teenagers broke into smaller groups, disturbing the area of Central Park Boulevard and 46th Street.
Tyre McKay told Denver7 he was hoping to watch Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Sunday evening. He missed the game because of what he saw happening outside the restaurant.
“You see more kids come, and then more, and more, and more. And, I mean, before you know it, it was hundreds of kids,” McKay said. “You had kids fighting, you had kids running, kids doing burnouts in a parking lot. I mean, you see guns… it was insane. I’ve never seen — I’ve seen fights, of course, we all grew up, we’ve seen fights — but I’ve never seen anything like that.”
McKay said he, along with a handful of other adults, rushed into the crowd to try and separate the teens who were fighting.
“It was pure violence. I mean, and it wasn’t just from the young men. It was the young ladies. It was everybody,” McKay explained. “I saw a kid get hit over the head with a bottle. I saw a little girl getting jumped on by 15 boys and girls, and she, by the time we got all of the kids off of her, she was unconscious and barely recognizable. It was insane.”
Zandria Holliday, 14, said that was not what she was expecting when she arrived at the shopping center on Sunday. The teenager said some of her mutual friends had seen the gathering advertised on social media and wanted to attend.
“I didn’t think it would get to the point that it did,” Holliday said.
At first, Holliday said it was a fairly uneventful afternoon. Then, things went downhill.
“I just saw everybody running away from all the chaos sometimes, or going to the chaos, but I didn’t really follow it,” said Holliday. “We were trying to stay away from the crowd. So everywhere the crowd went, we would go the opposite way.”
She and her friends successfully kept their distance from the group, something her mother was proud to hear.
“I know she’s got a really good head on her shoulders. Her and her friends, they stay out of trouble. So, you know, I trusted her to be okay, but it’s just scary,” said Holliday’s mother, Whitnie Carroll. “I don’t want to have to keep my kids inside, you know. They should be able to enjoy their summer.”
David Sanchez
Joel Hodge began fielding calls from concerned community members on Sunday night. As the co-founder and program director for the Struggle of Love Foundation, he works to combat youth violence.
“We want them to understand that we want you to come home safe. We want you to come home in one piece,” Hodge said, sending a message to the teens. “We’ve got a long summer ahead of us, right?”
Hodge has seen plans for future similar events on social media.
“Whoever the organizer is has power, and they can bring a bunch of youth together. And so if we can, you know, kind of collaborate with the organizer, maybe we can turn this event into something positive,” Hodge said. “I’m hoping that we can get in touch with them before these dates, and maybe we could change it to a safe event.”
A DPD spokesperson told Denver7 they are aware of similar, upcoming events in the area and “will plan accordingly to try to minimize the impact of these events.”
McKay, who was still processing what he saw within the crowd of teenagers, believes there must be some kind of solution that can create a safe summer.
“My heart bleeds for these kids. It kind of breaks for these kids,” McKay said. “My heart breaks for the kids. It breaks for our community. This was embarrassing because a lot of these kids do come from good families and good homes, and to be caught up and wrapped up into this kind of foolishness and nonsense is — it’s embarrassing. What is the solution? I may not have all the answers. In fact, I don’t have all the answers, but I think collectively, we could come up with something, and that’s where my mind’s at right now.”
No damage was reported, and no arrests were made. Denver police said there was a theft report made for two small items at one business, but it is not clear if that was connected to the group of teenagers.
Denver7 | Your Voice: Get in touch with Colette Bordelon
Denver7’s Colette Bordelon covers stories that have an impact in all of Colorado’s communities, but specializes in reporting on crime, justice and issues impacting our climate and environment. If you’d like to get in touch with Colette, fill out the form below to send her an email.
Denver, CO
Nuggets name Ben Tenzer executive VP of basketball operations, add Jon Wallace to front office
More than a month after their season ended and more than two months after firing general manager Calvin Booth, the Nuggets have finally restocked their front office.
Ben Tenzer has been named Denver’s executive vice president of basketball operations, multiple league sources told The Denver Post on Monday. The Nuggets are also hiring Jon Wallace from the Minnesota Timberwolves to take over as executive vice president of player personnel.
Tenzer finished the 2024-25 season as interim general manager after the Nuggets fired Booth three games before the NBA playoffs in April, along with head coach Michael Malone.
Now two longtime members of the organization have been promoted to help fill the voids. New head coach David Adelman was an assistant under Malone since 2017. Tenzer first worked for the Nuggets as a student intern during the 2005-06 season, while he was a junior at the University of Colorado. He left the team in 2009 to attend Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, then returned full-time as director of team operations in 2013, under then-GM Tim Connelly.
When Connelly left for Minnesota in 2022, he took Wallace with him. The former Georgetown star guard had spent three years in the Nuggets’ front office, most recently as a scouting coordinator. Now he’s returning to Denver to collaborate with a fellow disciple of Connelly’s tenure.
In lieu of hiring a general manager by title, the Nuggets are assigning two executives with complementary strengths to oversee basketball operations on a day-to-day basis. Tenzer has long been a salary cap and CBA expert for Denver’s front office. Wallace, 39, is regarded as a bright basketball mind with useful background as a player. Both will report to team president and KSE vice chairman Josh Kroenke, who recently said that “I need to be more hands-on in the moments of transition.”
It’s an unorthodox management structure that team owner Stan Kroenke has used in the past. From 2006 to 2010, Mark Warkentien served as vice president of basketball ops, and Rex Chapman was vice president of player personnel. The Nuggets made the playoffs every year of their tenure but never escaped the first round except in 2009, when they reached the Western Conference Finals and Warkentien was named NBA Executive of the Year.
A former Basketball Without Borders instructor and Summer League operations coordinator, Tenzer was most recently the general manager of Denver’s G League affiliate team, the Grand Rapids Gold. Wallace was general manager for the Iowa Wolves, Minnesota’s G League affiliate.
They’re joining a short list of active NBA general managers and top executives with backgrounds as a G League GM: Sean Marks (Brooklyn), Mike Gansey (Cleveland), Elton Brand (Philadelphia), Trajan Langdon (Detroit) and Anthony Parker (Orlando).
“Ben and I have been spending a lot of time together, talking about each individual player, how we think we can improve them as individuals and within the context of the team,” Josh Kroenke said in May, early in what turned out to be a long-winded search for Booth’s replacement. “Ben has a lot of great ideas of how we can improve the front office, both internally and externally. And I’m also soliciting a lot of opinions outside.”
The Nuggets conducted a handful of interviews recently with individuals who were perceived by league sources to be second-in-command candidates, especially with assistant general manager Tommy Balcetis not being retained. Like Tenzer, Wallace has no prior experience as an NBA general manager.
They’re tasked with maneuvering the Nuggets out of a corner. Denver’s payroll is bogged down by high-dollar contracts that render it difficult to improve roster depth, particularly under the constraints of a new NBA collective bargaining agreement that took effect on July 1, 2023 — three weeks after the Nuggets won their first championship.
Since then, Denver has been eliminated in the second round of the playoffs two consecutive years, both times in a Game 7. The team’s most significant roster casualties have been the losses of Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in free agency. Still, Denver fielded the seventh-most expensive roster in the league last season, and it’s projected by Hoops Hype to have the fifth-highest payroll in 2025-26 when a max contract extension takes effect for Jamal Murray.
Tenzer and Wallace will have the taxpayer mid-level exception at their disposal this offseason, allowing them to sign a free agent at a salary of up to $5.7 million. Other than that, they’re limited to veteran minimum contracts. Denver is the only team in the NBA without a pick in the upcoming draft, which begins this Wednesday — two days after the front-office hires.
Tenzer and the Nuggets’ current scouting staff have been formulating a pre-draft plan since Booth was fired.
Three roster spots are vacant as the new regime begins — those filled last season by DeAndre Jordan, Vlatko Cancar and Russell Westbrook, who is declining a player option. Among Denver’s first decisions will be whether to re-sign any of those players or bring in newcomers.
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.
Originally Published:
Denver, CO
Report: Dario Saric picks up his player option with the Denver Nuggets for next season – Denver Stiffs
Per Marc Stein, Denver Nuggets forward Dario Saric is activating his $5.4 million player option for next season. This was expected – Dario Saric has had rumors that multiple teams are interested in his services in Euroleague basketball next year, but none of those teams were going to pay him $5.4 million. The contract was unfortunately a waste of the Taxpayer mid-level exception last year as Saric barely played at all even though DaRon Holmes was lost for the season with his Achilles injury and the Nuggets could still not find minutes for Saric.
Denver is unlikely to retain Saric for next season, but it’s possible that new head coach David Adelman has a different plan for him than former coach Michael Malone, who only found 210 minutes for the power forward despite Aaron Gordon’s season-long calf injury and the lack of other backup options at both power forward and center. If they do not keep Saric, it’s just a matter of whether they can use his salary in trade (for a team that can then buy him out of a portion of that contract which he can make up in Europe) or if Denver is simply going to buy him out themselves.
The hope would be for them to be able to save $2 million or so off the price of the option with that buyout, which would give them enough to add a veteran on a league-minimum contract to replace him, but whether or not Denver or another team does that Saric has guaranteed himself the payday that Calvin Booth promised him when giving him the player option in the first place.
What an SEC QB said about Alabama football after Thomas Castellanos comment
“Multiple system failures” led to door plug flying off Alaska Airlines flight in 2024, NTSB chair says
D-backs' plan for Chase Field renovations gets boost from Arizona House
Helena-West Helena mayor arrested, sources confirm
Man charged in bombing of Palm Springs fertility clinic dies in prison
-
Arizona6 days agoSuspect in Arizona Rangers' death killed by Missouri troopers
-
News1 week agoAt Least 4 Dead and 4 Missing in West Virginia Flash Flooding
-
News1 week agoOakland County sheriff urging vigilance after shootings of 2 Minnesota lawmakers
-
Culture1 week agoBook Review: “The Möbius Book, by Catherine Lacey
-
Technology1 week agoTanks, guns and face-painting
-
News1 week agoVideo: Trump's Military Parade Met With Nationwide Protests
-
World1 week agoAt least 100 people killed in gunmen attack in Nigeria: Rights group
-
Business5 days agoDriverless disruption: Tech titans gird for robotaxi wars with new factory and territories