On Tuesday, Colorado Republicans Saddled Themselves With A Congressional Candidate Who Is An Outspoken Sociopath, Giving The DCCC AN Unexpected Opportunity To Flip A Red-Leaning District

Diane Mitsch Bush (D)

The Democrats lost Colorado's 6th district in the 2010 anti-blue wave. It was a Blue Dog-extinction election and Blue Dog John Salazar lost the seat to conservative state Rep. Scott Tipton, who he had beaten a few years earlier. The 6th makes up almost half a the state-- the whole western part of Colorado and most of the southern part. There are 28 counties but most of the voters live in just 4-- red Mesa, swingy Pueblo, blue La Plata and swingy Garfield. In 2016, Bernie won 3 of the 4-- Mesa with 57.3%, La Plata with 64.1% and Garfield with 61.5%. Hillary took Pueblo with 51.7% But that didn't help her in the general. Trump beat her 52-40% districtwide.

Democrats have tried winning it back but when no success. Last cycle-- with ZERO help from the DCCC-- former state Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush held Tipton to a 51.5% win, while outspending him $1,882,897 to $1,656,977. As Tipton and Bush prepared for a rematch in November, both faced serious primaries Tuesday. Bush spent $612,008 while her Democratic opponent, James Iacino spent $780,112. Bush prevailed, beating Iacino 61-39%.

But the GOP primary saw a big upset. Tipton, who spent $509,280 compared to the $119,798 spent by Lauren Boebert, his far right fringe crackpot opponent, was defeated by her by around 10,000 votes-- 55% to 45%. CO-03 had the only contested House primary in either party. What happened? Politico reported that Boebert owns a restaurant in Rifle, Colorado called the Shooters Grill and advertises that the waiters and waitresses are armed with open-carry firearms. (She kept her restaurant open in defiance of the state's unenforced-- so make-believe-- coronavirus public health mandates). She campaigned against Tipton by emphasizing he co-sponsored coronavirus legislation that would give aid to local governments. She's so off her rocker and so far from even the Republican mainstream that Trump endorsed Tipton. Politico: "Should Boebert win in November, she would be one of a growing continent of incoming candidates who have expressed some belief in the QAnon conspiracy theory that sinister forces inside the government are working to thwart Trump." After her win, Trump jumped right on board:

Even during the primary, Boebert said her opponent wasn't really Tipton as much as it was AOC. (Watch the video below.) Suddenly the DCCC is interested in flipping CO-03. Here's how the Colorado Sun explained Boebert's relationship to QAnon:

Earlier this year, Boebert said in an interview that she was “very familiar” with the QAnon far-right conspiracy theory, but she stopped short of saying she was a follower.

“Everything that I’ve heard of Q, I hope that this is real because it only means that America is getting stronger and better, and people are returning to conservative values,” she told interviewer Ann Vandersteel.

QAnon followers believe that Trump is fighting enemies in the “deep state” and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals. The QAnon name comes from online clues purportedly posted by a high-ranking government official known as “Q.”

I interviewed Bush and liked her but found her not quite aggressively progressive enough for a Blue America endorsement. Still, she's absolutely a better than average option for Democrats. She'll probably win in November, a good thing.