The four men running for the Republican nomination in the 6th Congressional District honed their pitches to voters — and their jabs at one another — at the last big debate Tuesday before the primary election.
State Sens. Steve Ward and Ted Harvey, Secretary of State Mike Coffman and businessman Wil Armstrong touched on Republican staples such as fiscal responsibility, limiting the size of government and reforming immigration in the debate at Arapahoe Community College hosted by the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce.
But the candidates also made their cases as agents of change, within the party and for the nation. The men are vying to replace Rep. Tom Tancredo, who is retiring.
Harvey said the Republican Party had wandered away from its conservative roots of fighting abortion and working to shrink government, among other things.
“Our party is tone deaf to the base of America and what is important to America,” he said. “. . . We need to send fighters back to Washington, D.C., in the mold of Tom Tancredo. We’ve got to fight for the values the Republican Party is supposed to represent.”
Armstrong criticized federal spending.
“If I ran my business and kept my books the way our federal government does, I’d probably be in jail,” Armstrong said. “And folks, that’s not a legacy of debt I want to leave to our children.”
Coffman, an Iraq war veteran, said Congress has no grasp of the political culture in Iraq.
“I want to bring that understanding to Congress, so that we can move this process forward faster, so we can complete our mission and bring our troops home,” he said.
And Ward, also an Iraq war veteran, criticized “borrow-and-spend” Republicans.
“I believe in the Republican principle of limited government,” Ward said. “But I believe when you limit government, you need to make it work.”
Things got most testy when Armstrong and Ward discussed federal budget earmarks. Armstrong said he would eliminate them, while Ward said sometimes they are necessary for critical projects.
“I know you’re for earmarks, Steve,” Armstrong said. “That’s a good distinction. You’re for earmarks, and I’m not.”
“I know what it takes to get roads built,” Ward later shot back, “and you don’t.”
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
