{"id":1320465,"date":"2020-06-11T13:07:03","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T19:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=997189"},"modified":"2020-06-11T13:07:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T19:07:03","slug":"democrats-diane-mitsch-bush-james-iacino-and-republican-lauren-boebert-face-off-in-virtual-forum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/democrats-diane-mitsch-bush-james-iacino-and-republican-lauren-boebert-face-off-in-virtual-forum\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Diane Mitsch Bush, James Iacino and Republican Lauren Boebert face off in virtual forum"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image p402_hide\">\n<div class=\"caption-container\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"724\" height=\"482\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/06\/GettyImages-1154693548.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/06\/GettyImages-1154693548.jpg 724w, https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/06\/GettyImages-1154693548-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 724px) 100vw, 724px\"><\/p><figcaption><strong>Podium lectern with two microphones and United States flag in background<\/strong><br \/><em>Flag of the United States at a press conference with microphones<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Scott Tipton, the incumbent in the 3rd Congressional District, declined to participate or send any statements<\/h2>\n<p>Given the geographic size of 3rd Congressional District, perhaps the best way to reach voters is via the internet.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what the La Plata County League of Women Voters had in mind with a Wednesday evening candidate forum featuring three of the four candidates for the position.<\/p>\n<p>Appearing via Zoom were Democrats&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/dianeforcolorado.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Diane Mitsch Bush<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/jamesforcolorado.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">James Iacino<\/a>, along with Republican Lauren Boebert. Missing was incumbent Republican Scott Tipton, who also didn\u2019t send any statements to the forum.<\/p>\n<p>The three candidates appearing Wednesday all talked about ways they\u2019d be the better choice to represent the district.<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\" readability=\"6\">\n<div class=\"row gspi-donation gspi-donation-mobile p-0\" readability=\"7\">\n<div class=\"col-xl-4 p-2\">\n<div data-bg=\"url(https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png)\" class=\"p-0 mt-2 mb-2 h-75 text-center rocket-lazyload\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.postindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/03\/PI-logo-white.png\" class=\"logo m-0 p-0 invisible\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><h3 class=\"d-inline mr-3\">Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n<p><button class=\"btn d-inline\" type=\"button\" onclick=\"handleDonationButtonClickMidArticle()\">Donate<\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Answering viewer questions presented by Paul DeBell, an assistant professor in political science at Fort Lewis College in Durango, the three candidates made their cases to prevail in both the June 30 primary election and the Nov. 3 general election.<\/p>\n<p>Boebert is an owner of Shooter\u2019s Grill in Rifle. She\u2019s challenging Tipton in the primary, casting herself as a true conservative to represent the district. She\u2019s challenging Tipton\u2019s alleged chumminess with Democrats who currently hold the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.<\/p>\n<p>Iacino and Mitsch Bush are both challenging Tipton\u2019s alleged lock-step adherence to President Donald Trump\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n<h3>Various experience<\/h3>\n<p>Mitsch Bush told forum viewers about her government experience as both a Routt County Commissioner and a nearly eight-year veteran of the Colorado House of Representatives.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur democracy is in danger,\u201d Mitsch Bush told viewers, adding that she\u2019s a \u201cseasoned, tested, trusted\u201d public servant who has worked across the aisle for her constituents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve never been more concerned about the future of our country,\u201d Iacino said. Citing his business experience \u2014 the Ridgway resident is a third-generation owner of the Seattle Fish Company \u2014 Iacino noted that company has long been a union shop, and said \u201cwe need to fight for economic mobility for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boebert also said said \u201cthis is one of the most challenging times in our country\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boebert said the next 3rd District representative has to be \u201cprincipled and strong\u201d in defense of free enterprise and against government dependency.<\/p>\n<p>The different views between the Democrats and Tipton\u2019s Republican challenger were on vivid display during the roughly hour-long forum.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to a question about the future of health care, both Iacino and Mitsch Bush said government needs to provide a \u201cpublic option\u201d to private health insurance. Government should also ensure rural health clinics, with access to mental health and women\u2019s care.<\/p>\n<p>Boebert noted that the current health care system is \u201cbroken,\u201d but preferred finding options to open up competition for health care on the Western Slope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNobody is incented to change,\u201d Boebert said.<\/p>\n<h3>Some left-right agreement<\/h3>\n<p>The candidates did have similar answers to a couple of questions, with some differences, of course.<\/p>\n<p>All favor community-based solutions to affordable housing. Boebert focused more on free markets. Iacino said federal funding should support those efforts. Mitsch Bush said local housing authorities have been effective, but said there needs to be a combination of state and federal efforts, along with public-private partnerships at the local level.<\/p>\n<p>All three candidates also voiced full-throated support for the future of the U.S. Postal Service.<\/p>\n<p>But the Democratic and Republican candidates had more sharp differences than agreement. Answers to a question about police reform illustrated those differences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is our opportunity to effect the change we\u2019ve needed,\u201d Iacino said, noting that military equipment shouldn\u2019t go to local police agencies.<\/p>\n<p>Mitsch Bush said she supports current legislation to outlaw chokeholds and no-knock raids.<\/p>\n<p>Noting that her first husband was a police officer, Mitsch Bush said he knew first-hand the need for training that allows officers to de-escalate confrontations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s insane that we have to have a discussion about defunding or dispanding (police agencies),\u201d Boebert said, adding that there should be no room for bad officers or racism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to show compassion and empathy, but never (settle for) looting and violence,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><em>Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:smiller@vaildaily.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">smiller@vaildaily.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/election\/democrats-diane-mitsch-bush-james-iacino-and-republican-lauren-boebert-face-off-in-virtual-forum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Podium lectern with two microphones and United States flag in backgroundFlag of the United States at a press conference with microphones Scott Tipton, the incumbent in the 3rd Congressional District, declined to participate or send any statements Given the geographic size of 3rd Congressional District, perhaps the best way to reach voters is via the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1320465","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-01 17:37:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1320465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1320465\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1320465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1320465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1320465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}