The Republicans running in the June primary in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District threw more elbows than punches in a televised debate on Thursday night in Denver, with most of the jabs aimed at U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, though her rivals also took hits.

During the fast-paced, hour-long debate, the six Republicans running for the seat left vacant by former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck traded blows over immigration policy, electability and each other’s ability to bring legislation across the finish line.

Sponsored by 9News and Colorado Politics, the debate aired live on the Denver TV station and streamed online, where it’s archived for later viewing. The station’s Kyle Clark and Marshall Zelinger moderated, with additional questions from Colorado Politics Editor Luige Del Puerto.

There was little doubt that her fellow candidates perceive Boebert to be the primary’s frontrunner, since nearly ever exchange included a disagreement with her. The two-term lawmaker from the Western Slope moved into the Eastern Colorado district earlier this year after Buck said he wouldn’t seek reelection, but before he abruptly resigned in March.

In addition to her penchant for generating headlines, Boebert has lapped her opponents in fundraising and led at least one publicly released poll of primary voters.

Since Boebert joined the race, the crowded primary field narrowed somewhat, leaving five other Republicans on the ballot — former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling; state Reps. Mike Lynch, R-Wellington, and Richard Holtorf, R-Akron; former talk radio host and filmmaker Deborah Flora; and, business consultant and mortgage broker Peter Yu.

At the outset of the debate, all of the candidates indicated they will vote for former President Donald Trump following his conviction on multiple felony charges just hours before the debate.

The candidates split, however, when asked whether they think Boebert risks the seat flipping to a Democrat if she wins the nomination, with four of her opponents — all except Sonnenberg — agreeing she faces a “realistic chance” of losing in November.

Asked whether she was concerned about internal polling released by Democratic campaigns that shows her trailing potential general election opponents, Boebert dismissed the question and said she’s confident she can carry the district, which ranks as Colorado’s most solidly Republican seat.

“I do not believe I will make this seat vulnerable,” she said. “This is a Republican district, and they want a Republican who has a conservative voting record, as I do.”

Flora disagreed, saying that the 4th CD’s predominantly suburban profile and near-majority of unaffiliated voters mean a divisive candidate like Boebert could endanger the GOP’s hold on the seat.

“So many of the unaffiliated voters are Republicans who’ve left the party because they’re tired of the ‘purge and purify,’ the drama and the dysfunction, and many also are unaffiliated voters who do not understand — because no one has persuaded them — that our policies are the very things that will solve the issues that keep them up at night,” Flora said, turning to Boebert. “I do think it is vulnerable. I think the day of ‘that will never happen in Colorado’ is long gone.”

Turning to immigration, Boebert defended her support for Trump’s plans to stage mass deportations, using the National Guard and even the military to remove as many as 17 million undocumented immigrants from the country.

“If the federal government is flying them in and busing them in, they can bus them out,” she said when asked how she envisions the deportations might play out in the 4th CD. “But before anything else, we have got to secure the border and shut it down.”

Lynch took issue with Boebert’s response.

“That we would just blanketly go after — we have a number of migrants that come into our state every year to work in our fields. So, if we just blindly start rounding people up and sending them across the border, we run the risk of seriously impacting our ag community in the state,” Lynch said. “So, the idea that we have folks that have never really done legislation trying to promote these sorts of policies is very dangerous.”

Lynch added: “These are issues that require smart, in-depth discussions before we start doing something as silly as ‘let’s just get buses and put them on them and get them out of here.'”

Boebert’s legislative track record came under scrutiny for extended stretches during the debate, with Lynch and Holtorf pressing her to account for how much legislation she’s managed to pass during her tenure in Congress.

Boebert, who has faced criticism for claiming credit for funding in bills she voted against, repeatedly referenced the Pueblo Jobs Act, a measure that was included in a larger bill that was signed into law last year by President Joe Biden. She also defended her record of influencing legislation in ways other than putting her name on bills.

“I’ve passed over 80 other initiatives,” she said after Holtorf challenged her on the question.

“One single, stand-alone bill is not the only way to get something signed into law,” she said, adding that amendments, appropriations lines and congressional-directed spending — colloquially known as earmarks — also count.

Ballots go in the email to voters starting on June 3 and are due back to county clerks by June 25.

In the same election, three Democrats are seeking their party’s nomination in the 4th CD. And, in a simultaneous special election, voters in the district will also elect someone to fill the remainder of Buck’s term through the end of the year, choosing between Democrat Trisha Calvarese, Republican Greg Lopez, Libertarian Hannah Goodman and Approval Voting Party nominee Frank Attwood.