U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert and her Democratic opponent Trisha Calvarese argued about veterans’ care, the national debt and the congressional record on Tuesday during their only scheduled debate in the race for the 4th Congressional District seat.

Calvarese, a former speechwriter and union activist, has repeatedly attacked Boebert’s record in Congress, criticizing the Republican for voting against a broader bill that included provisions allowing the federal government to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs, defending President Joe Biden’s anti-inflation bill and calling for an end to the “offshoring” of American manufacturing overseas.

Boebert, who is seeking a third term — and her first outside the Western Slope’s 3rd Congressional District — defended her record. She addressed familiar core Republican Party issues, saying she wants to cut taxes, “take back our country,” “bring back prosperity” and “secure our southern border.”

She once derisively referred to American citizens born to undocumented immigrants as “anchor babies” and believed that they should be excluded from certain tax benefits.

The debate, co-hosted by Colorado Politics/Denver Gazette and the Douglas County Economic Development Corporation at the Club at Ravenna, focused on economic and business issues.

It was the first debate since Boebert won the primary in June against a strong Republican field. She was hotly contested by both Democrats and Republicans in her home district, but had switched from a re-election campaign to a campaign in the Fourth District after then-US Representative Ken Buck announced he would not run in the November election.

Although Boebert is new to the district, she is the favorite. The Eastern Plains-focused 4th District is Colorado’s most conservative district, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats by more than double, giving her a bigger lead on paper than in her old district. The 4th District includes vast farmland as well as Douglas County in the southern Denver suburbs.

On Tuesday, Calvarese sought to contrast her stated desire for partnership and compromise with Boebert’s approach, which Calvarese characterized as, “Defund the government, cut it, shut it down if you don’t get your way.”

Despite being one of the most partisan members of a particularly partisan Congress, Boebert touted her own bipartisan efforts, including her support of a bill by Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse of Colorado that would allow the use of federal lands for housing.

Boebert and Calvarese also discussed the following on Tuesday:

National debt

In response to a question about the growing national debt, Boebert said she wanted to go through spending one by one, line by line. She said she would not support larger omnibus funding bills and instead wanted individual budget bills.

“I don’t agree with the Republicans’ debt burden any more than I agree with the Democrats’ debt burden,” she said.

Calvarese said she wants to better tax companies that “hide their money overseas” and repeatedly stressed that “the middle class needs tax relief.” She said the federal government should use artificial intelligence to look for efficiencies to reduce unnecessary spending.

She also said she would support maintaining the current federal corporate tax rate, while Boebert advocated a continuation of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and a “significant reduction in tax rates.”

Those income tax cuts expire at the end of next year, and extending them for another decade would increase the budget deficit by $3.3 trillion over that period, according to a bipartisan fiscal analysis.

Veterans

The longest scuffle of the debate then ensued. Calvarese accused Boebert of not supporting veterans, citing Boebert’s support of a bill that would have cut the Department of Veterans Affairs’ budget and her opposition to a bill that would have expanded health insurance benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances.

“Don’t sit here and tell us … that you’re somehow for veterans,” Calvarese said.

Boebert defended her support for veterans and her vote against the Toxic Substances Act, saying she could not propose changes and was not willing to “spend a billion dollars forever because we didn’t get some language in the law right.”

Regarding the VA, she criticized the department’s unresponsiveness and subsequently the support of some Democrats for a universal health care system.

Economic lightning round

Boebert and Calvarese were bombarded with several questions in lightning rounds, including whether they would support an increase in the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 an hour, about half the minimum wage in Colorado. Boebert said she opposed an increase. Calvarese said she supported raising the minimum wage – including for tipped workers – to $15 an hour.