Frisch and Boebert spar on policy and Pelosi at first CD-3 debate

The two candidates for Colorado’s 3^rd Congressional District faced off for the first time at a debate in Grand Junction on Saturday.

Democratic challenger Adam Frisch went after incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert’s record of voting against popular legislation and sparking online controversy, while Boebert went after House speaker Nancy Pelosi and defended her record, saying she didn’t want to buy into Pelosi’s “con game” and spend extra tax dollars.

Before the debate was underway, Boebert declined to agree to the ground rules of the debate, alleging that moderator Edie Sonn with the Colorado Behavioral Health Council had expressed her support for Boebert’s 2020 Democratic opponent, Diane Mitsch Busch.

“This debate is not about me,” Sonn said before Boebert agreed to the basic rules.

Frisch said multiple times throughout the debate that he is "not Nancy Pelosi” and said he would not vote for her to be Speaker of the House if elected.

Near the end of the debate, during a period of cross examination, Boebert attacked Frisch and his record on Aspen City Council and mentioned that her campaign was launching a website that will go into detail about the allegations against him. Boebert claimed that Frisch previously registered as a Democrat and voted in support of a carbon tax.

The website is similar to another site Boebert's campaign launched against her Republican primary challenger, Don Coram, a state senator from Montrose.

Boebert also said Frisch had put off paying an affordable housing fee for renovations on a multi-million dollar home — Frisch said during the debate that he didn’t remember how much it was but that he and his wife had paid it off “a few months ago.”

More:Democratic CD-3 candidate Adam Frisch opposes 'reckless' student loan forgiveness plan

Frisch told the Aspen Daily News on Sunday that he thinks Boebert and her camp are "fishing hard” and said that the “inner workings of Aspen city government” rank low on CD-3 voters’ priorities.

During the debate, Frisch said none of Boebert’s introduced bills have gone past committee and pointed out she was one of just a few members of Congress to vote against legislation that helped veterans and funded leukemia research.

Boebert said those votes were cast to oppose Pelosi and that bills are bundled together with little time for legislators to read them fully.

“It really makes me terribly sad when Nancy Pelosi uses the most vulnerable among us to force her agenda through Congress, but that's how she rolls,” Boebert said.

Aside from sometimes-heated rhetoric and occasional interjections from the moderator, both candidates emphasized the importance of water and energy independence in the distric, but disagreed on specific policy pathways.

Boebert emphasized her support for domestic natural gas production and said that she would support nuclear power — she said it was the “cleanest” option on the table.

Frisch said he is open to exploring all kinds of alternative energy sources moving forward but expressed skepticism that the U.S. can meet a goal of producing 100% renewable energy by 2035.

More:Both candidates in Pueblo’s state Senate race have swapped parties at least 10 times

The two candidates are scheduled to appear together in a virtual meetup hosted by the League of Women Voters on Oct. 12.

Boebert declined an invitation to a debate hosted by the Greater Pueblo Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 28, citing scheduling conflicts and the legislative calendar.

She hosted a roundtable event at the chamber in late August, but the event was closed to the press.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Lauren Boebert, Adam Frisch spar in CD-3 debate in Grand Junction