Democratic delegates sent Trisha Calvarese and John Padora to Colorado’s 4th Congressional District primary ballot Thursday night at an online assembly.

They join Ike McCorkle, a Marine veteran and two-time previous nominee for the seat, who qualified for the primary earlier this week by petition.

Covering Douglas County, parts of Larimer and Weld counties and the Eastern Plains, the 4th CD was formerly represented by Ken Buck, a five-term Republican who resigned from Congress last month. It’s Colorado’s most solidly Republican congressional district.

The June 25 primary election will appear on the same ballot as a special election to fill the six months remaining in Buck’s term.

That’s why Calvarese’s name will appear on the ballot twice – atop the list of primary candidates, since she received the most support from delegates on Thursday night, and as the Democratic nominee in the special election, a designation she secured on April 1 at an online convention.

In the special election, Calvarese will face off against Republican nominee Greg Lopez, a former Parker mayor and two-time gubernatorial candidate, who is running as a self-described “placeholder” and isn’t seeking the nomination in the primary.

At Thursday’s assembly, held on the Zoom teleconferencing platform, Calvarese came out on top with 57.8% of the vote, followed by Padora at 33.9% and political science professor Karen Breslin whose 8.3% fell below the 30% required to advance to the primary.

GOP candidates who have made the ballot for their party’s primary include U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert – who moved from Western Colorado into the district earlier this year – along with former radio talker Deborah Flora and state Reps. Richard Holtorf of Akron and Mike Lynch of Wellington. Another five Republicans have submitted petitions that are undergoing review by the secretary of state.

“I am your eligible Democratic nominee and hope that our party will not fall into the MAGA trap of questioning our elections,” Calvarese told delegates.

The veteran political organizer and speechwriter was referencing a lawsuit filed Wednesday by a Castle Rock voter that seeks to remove her from the special election ballot based on allegations she hasn’t been registered as a Colorado Democrat long enough to satisfy statutory and party requirements.

The state’s Democratic Party and Calvarese – who moved from Virginia to Colorado last fall to help provide home hospice care for her parents – told Colorado Politics the lawsuit is unfounded and insist she meets the requirements.

“Reproductive rights, a better economic system, democracy. Those are just a few of the values we are here tonight to uphold,” said Calvarese, who announced at the assembly that she has been endorsed by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and former U.S. Reps. Ed Perlmutter and Betsy Markey. Markey, who represented the 4th CD for a single term from 2009-2011, is the only Democrat to have won election in the district in the last 50 years.

Noting that she was already the special election nominee, Calvarese added: “The fewer Democrats on the ballot for the primary, the clearer the choice to voters. We have a rare opportunity in just a few weeks to move the country one seat closer to tipping the balance of the U.S. House. You must choose. We as a Democratic caucus must choose. The stakes of this convention have national consequences. Are we going to stand united, or will we fragment?”

Padora, an engineer and environmental scientist, told delegates that overcoming his opioid addiction that began following an injury he suffered in a car collision in his late teens has shaped his approach to politics.

“A crucial part of my journey was overcoming opioid addiction, which nearly destroyed my marriage, my family, my career and my life,” Padora said. “Despite the chaos, I rebuilt my life, discovering a new purpose. I was inspired to give back, and that drive led me to advocate for criminal justice reform. At the county, state and federal level, I’ve campaigned for causes like marijuana legalization, anti-war efforts, climate advocacy, while also fighting for government transparency, worker rights, improved access for folks with disabilities and protecting marginalized communities.”

Added Padora: “I’m in this race because I’ve seen firsthand the power of grassroots activism to drive real change, from knocking 20,000 Republican doors in Pennsylvania to secure a win for Biden, to my ongoing involvement with the Colorado Democratic Party. I’ve been deeply engaged in my community since arriving here, and my commitment to activism is unwavering and will continue driving me forward.”

State Rep. Bob Marshall, D-Highlands Ranch, pitched Calvarese in his nominating speech as an ideal candidate to flip the district from Republican hands by appealing to its suburban swing voters.

Acknowledging that Democrats face “an uphill battle” in the district, Marshall – the first Democrat elected to the state legislature from Douglas County in decades – argued that Calvarese’s positive approach will contrast favorably to Boebert, the leading Republican candidate.

“While the plains dominate CD4 conversations, Douglas County and the northern suburbs are a majority of CD4’s electorate,” Marshall said, referring to Loveland and its surrounding area in Larimer County. “Moderate Republican women are most likely to eat into CD4’s GOP margin, as recently seen in Alabama. Trisha is best positioned to capitalize upon 2024’s electoral landscape.”

Last month, Alabama Democrat Marilyn Lands stunned national observers by winning a special legislative election by a wide margin in a long-held GOP seat by focusing her campaign on reproductive rights and her opposition to the state’s recent prohibition on in vitro fertilization.

Howard Chou, a former vice chair of the state Democratic Party and the Padora campaign’s political director, was one of Padora’s nominators.

“I’m here tonight because I believe in John Padora, because he can speak on and relate to the struggles of working families,” Chou said. “This campaign is built on rebuilding the equity for those working families across Colorado and the nation.”

Padora’s history of overcoming addiction is an advantage for a politician, Chou said.

“John’s response to adversity speaks to me personally. He has shown that he is human and that he has the will to correct his ways by championing that of others so they don’t have to go through what he has,” Chou said. “This calm leadership is about compassion and sacrifice and creating a restorative impact.”

After the results were announced, Calvarese issued a statement recalling the time spent with her father, who died late last year.

“Tonight, I’m thinking about my father, who passed away shortly before I began this campaign in my childhood home here in Highlands Ranch,” Calvarese said. “I was fortunate to be able to provide end-of-life care to both of my parents – a privilege a majority of Americans do not have. He may have been a Republican, but he was my first endorsement. Because, like so many voters, he shares our values – economic opportunity, time with family, investments in community. I’ll be carrying his endorsement close to my heart as I take this campaign throughout the district in the coming weeks.”

Padora, who was recently endorsed by the Colorado Working Families Party, said in a statement that he and his campaign team are “ready to leap into this next phase of the election with ferocity.”

“Regardless of who the general election opponent is, I will be ready to push back and show everyone in this district that the GOP does not have their interest at heart,” he said. “It’s time for a new person who will push for progressive policies and fight for better social programs that benefit everyone.”

McCorkle, who lost to Buck by double-digit margins in 2020 and 2022, told Colorado Politics in a text message sent via a spokesman that he’s ready to take his campaign across the district.

“I congratulate both of my opponents on making the ballot, and I look forward to making our case to the voters in this primary,” he said.

While none of the candidates have yet filed campaign finance reports covering the first three months of the year – they’re due by midnight Monday – McCorkle’s campaign has boasted that he’s raised nearly $1 million this cycle, many times what his primary rivals have likely pulled in.

McCorkle’s campaign released internal polling late last month that showed him beating Boebert by 7 points in a head-to-head match-up, though nearly one-third of voters were undecided.

Mail ballots go out in just over seven weeks and are due back to county clerks on June 25.