Cory Gardner shakes hands with an attendee at the Boulder County Republicans headquarters on Tuesday, Oct. 28. (Sam Klomhaus/CU Independent)
Cory Gardner, the state representative for Colorado’s fourth district and challenger to Colorado Senator Mark Udall, stood on a chair and addressed a stiflingly full room Tuesday at the Boulder County Republicans headquarters at the intersection of Folsom Street and Arapahoe Avenue.
Gardner and George Leing, the Republican candidate for representative of Colorado’s second district, both gave speeches at the rally.
“I would be honored to earn your vote to represent all of Boulder County,” Gardner said.
Gardner said people in Colorado are “tired of leaders that don’t lead” and continued, “Obama’s policies are failing the people of this state and this country.”
“Udall has consistently voted party line with Obama, so to elect Cory Gardner would be fantastic,” said Josh Rheins, a senior political science major who works on Leing’s campaign.
Before the speeches, Ellyn Hilliard, the Republican candidate for Colorado’s House District 11, made an impassioned plea to those gathered at the rally to sign up as signature verifiers. Hilliard said Democrats are engaging tactics like taking ballots out of the trash and completing them to boost their party’s portion of the vote.
“This is super critical. These ballots are out there for people to turn in, and people are doing it,” Hilliard said. “There are shenanigans going on in Boulder County.”
Hilliard also mentioned that Denver County’s rejection rate for ballot signatures is more than four times the rate for signatures in Boulder County.
“It’s so important that we have people looking on to make sure we get an honest election,” Leing said. “We’ve got to make sure that it’s fair.”
According to Hilliard, the current signature verifiers are not trustworthy. “We have people down there who are questionable,” she said.
Gardner ended his speech by exhorting his supporters to work hard down the home stretch: “Leave no door un-knocked, leave no phone un-called.”
Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Sam Klomhaus at Samuel.Klomhaus@Colorado.edu
