Today is Dec. 28, 2023, and here's what you need to know:
Lauren Boebert jumps to Colorado's 4th CD in bid to improve reelection odds
In a stunning move, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert on Wednesday night announced that she plans to run next year for the seat held by retiring fellow Republican Ken Buck in Colorado's 4th Congressional District, rather than seek reelection in the district she barely won last year.
A Silt Republican serving her second term, Boebert joins a crowded GOP primary field in the heavily Republican neighboring district, which covers Douglas County and parts of Larimer and Weld counties, as well as much of the Eastern Plains.
Boebert won reelection last year by just 546 votes in the Western Slope-based 3rd District, which leans toward Republicans by 9 percentage points. The 4th District, which is more favorable toward Republicans, prefers GOP candidates by 27 points, according to a nonpartisan analysis prepared by Colorado's redistricting commission.
Buck announced in November that he isn't seeking a sixth term.
"My mission has always been and will always be to defend our freedoms and defeat the Democrat socialists and communists so we can take our country back, but that mission does not take place in a vacuum either personally or professionally," Boebert said in a statement.
In Memoriam: The politicos who passed in 2023
Several politicos passed away this year, including some giants in Colorado's political world. Among them is Patricia Schroeder, Colorado's first woman representative to the U.S. House and a presidential candidate in 1988. Schroeder, who died on March 13, was 82.
Astonished at high cost, Colorado regulators scrutinize Xcel's $3 billion transmission line request
Last week, Colorado energy regulators, who appeared astonished at the high costs, agreed to set aside a $2.82 billion request from Xcel Energy Colorado for new high-voltage transmission lines to serve the Denver metro and other areas.
In its 2021 electric resource and clean energy plan that’s before Colorado Public Utilities Commission, Xcel said it wants to build new transmission as part of a $15 billion investment to achieve an estimated 87% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.
The request includes $2.14 billion for the Denver metro transmission network upgrades, $176 million for upgrades to the San Luis Valley network and $252 million for the May Valley-Longhorn extension.
Xcel’s latest version of its 2021 energy resource and clean power plan caught the energy regulators by surprise, noting the 850% increase in the costs from previous estimates.
Trump wins Michigan state court battle to qualify for primary election ballot
Donald Trump scored a victory on Wednesday in his fight against challenges to his eligibility to run for the White House again when Michigan's top court declined to hear a case seeking to disqualify him from the state's presidential primary ballot.
The Michigan Supreme Court said it would not hear an appeal from four voters in the state seeking to bar the former president from the Feb. 27 Republican primary for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The voters argued that Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, could not serve as president under a provision in the U.S. Constitution that bars people from holding office if they engaged in "insurrection or rebellion" after swearing an oath to the United States.
"We are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court," the justices said in a brief order.
67th Denver Debutante Ball carries on a holiday tradition | NONPROFIT REGISTER
For the 67th year, the Denver Debutante Ball — arguably the crown jewel in Denver’s social-scene hierarchy — was the occasion for approximately 1,000 of the city’s Old Guard to gather at the Brown Palace Hotel to witness the presentation of 28 young women who are midway through their freshman year of college.
