WASHINGTON – Rep. Doug Lamborn will not attend the president’s State of the Union address tomorrow because he says he doesn’t support his policies.
Lamborn, a Republican who announced his bid for re-election over the weekend in Colorado Springs, has attended past State of the Union addresses but said this year he “believes the president will be in full campaign mode and will use the address as an opportunity to bash his political opponents.”
Lamborn may have a primary opponent in this fall’s election. Businessman Robert Blaha says he is running against Lamborn, saying he is part of the “Washington elite” problem.
“As far as he knows, he is the only Republican who will pass on attending SOTU,” said his spokeswoman Cat Mortensen.
Lamborn was on a flight to Washington Monday afternoon and not immediately available for comment.
Three recent White House decisions aggrieve Lamborn, his staffers said. He disagreed with the president’s “recess appointments” made over the holidays to put two people on the National Labor Relations Board and name Richard Cordray chief of the newly-created Consumer Protection Board.
Lamborn also disagrees with the president’s decision on not immediately starting work on the Keystone oil sands pipeline.
“Congressman Lamborn respects the President personally, and the office of the President,” Mortensen said.
Lamborn says he’ll watch the speech on television.
The decision stands in stark contrast to Democrat Sen. Mark Udall’s national effort to get Republicans and Democrats to sit together tomorrow night. Udall says the State of the Union offers an opportunity for members of Congress to show the public that they can come together for one night and mingle. Many in Washington call it Washington’s “date night.”
