U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado held a town hall meeting Wednesday in Grand Junction, where he fielded questions regarding education, potential changes in voter registration, the wrongful deportation and imprisonment of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, and what Democrats in power are doing to rein in President Donald Trump.

Approximately 850 people registered for the event, according to Bennet’s deputy communications director Eric Jones. The event took place at Colorado Mesa University’s Asteria Theater.

Earlier this month the Democratic senator declared his candidacy for Colorado governor — which means there will be a primary race between Bennet and another prominent Democrat, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, for the party’s nomination. Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who has served as governor since 2019, is term-limited. Weiser announced his candidacy in January and is currently serving his second term as attorney general.

Though personable and humorous at times, Bennet did not give direct answers to many of the audience questions, which were selected via “raffle tickets” offered to attendees as they entered the theater.

One woman expressed concern about funding for public schools — which is a top issue for Bennet, the former superintendent of Denver Public Schools. He circled back to the topic of education several times during the one-hour town hall. Bennet said there needs to be a serious conversation about improving teacher salaries, how the state Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights operates, and funding for both K-12 education and health care in the state.

“I think (education) is the most important issue we are facing,” he said.

Another woman told Bennet how she was “petrified” that the SAVE Act could take away a women’s right to vote. The U.S. House of Representatives this month passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. Opponents of the bill say it would make it difficult to vote for women who have changed their name after marriage.

Women won the right to vote in 1920, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The women fighting for that right never gave up, Bennet said.

“We have to keep (the suffrage movement) in our minds and be inspired by it,” Bennet said.

Another person asked if the money spent on housing prisoners in El Salvador was approved by Congress, to which Bennet responded, “No, to my knowledge Congress has not authorized money.” The Trump administration is paying El Salvador to incarcerate prisoners like Abrego Garcia and Trump has suggested “homegrown” American citizens could be sent there, too.

One man, who addressed the senator as “Governor Bennet” — eliciting a smattering of cheers and applause — asked Bennet why he is running for governor.

“Like everybody else I am searching my conscience … and thinking about where I can make the biggest difference,” Bennet said.

Bennet was also asked why Democrats have not been able to fight the Trump agenda.

Bennet responded that while there are many things he blames Trump for, getting elected is not one of them. He said he is frustrated with the Democratic Party for not articulating a compelling vision of what it stands for. Democrats failed to build a coalition that could win in November, he said. Plus, Trump tapped into Americans’ frustration regarding the economy.

Rose Ericson, of Grand Junction, is a Republican who attended the town hall on Wednesday. She told Newsline that she was there because many people feel the Democrats are not doing enough to hold Trump accountable and that the U.S. Congress has the “purse strings” and has given away its control. Ericson did not vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020.

“They’ve thrown away the checks and balances that were built into the Constitution, and it’s appalling,” she said.

Some in the audience mentioned fears about Social Security, including the possible closure of the agency’s offices and loss of the ability to communicate with a live person. Bennet said he’s all for reforming the government, but sending Elon Musk and his young staff to do it is probably not a good idea. Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency has interfered with government agencies including the Social Security Administration, threatening its operations through cuts to the workforce and offices across the country.

Another person, who works in the trucking industry and is often at truck stops, asked Bennet how to combat what he characterized as lies put out by Fox News, to which Bennet responded that dealing with propaganda is a “big worry” — and not just from domestic sources, but also from China and Russia.

Another woman told Bennet the “authoritarian” Trump administration is a “nightmare” and asked why Democrats aren’t doing more to stop the president. She also wanted to know what Bennet and other Democrats are doing to bring Abrego Garcia back from El Salvador. The Trump administration has admitted it made an administrative error when it deported Abrego Garcia, but thus far it has ignored a court order to facilitate his return.

Bennet agreed Abrego Garcia should be returned to the United States. He said he personally doesn’t have the power to bring him back home but that Trump should obey the court ruling.

Bennet told attendees to resist, to push back against threats to democracy, which prompted one person to respond that people can only push back so much and that “we need to know how you Dems are pushing back. What is going on?”

Bennet replied, “First of all, any ideas you have I’ll take. But we have pushed back. Can I do a better job? I’m sure of that. We all bear a responsibility.”

As Bennet was leaving the stage, shaking hands, greeting constituents, a reporter asked why he voted to confirm Doug Burgum as secretary of Interior.

Burgum issued an order last week that overhauls the organization of the Interior Department, turning over decision-making authority to a DOGE staff member.

Bennet said he voted for Burgum, former governor of North Dakota, because he was a successful Western governor and businessman.

“We had a conversation about public lands in Colorado. I thought it was important to have with a few of these nominees a connection with Colorado. There’s a handful I voted for because I think in the long term they’ll be good for Colorado,” Bennet said.

Both U.S. senators from Colorado — Bennet and Democrat John Hickenlooper — have disappointed some progressives for their votes in favor of confirming some of Trump’s Cabinet nominees.

Colorado Newsline reached out to Weiser for comment regarding his own bid for governor of Colorado.

“For the past eight years, I’ve spent every day fighting for Coloradans and our way of life,” Weiser said in an email to Newline. “Senator Bennet has been in Washington on the front lines, which is where we need him to be, especially now. But I continue to be alarmed at Trump’s cabinet choices — including those whom Bennet voted for. Doug Burgum, for instance, has said out loud his plans to sell off our public lands to the highest bidder. Now is not the time for ‘picking our battles’ when it comes to Trump’s all-out assault on our country and our Constitution.”

Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com.

Some Grand Junction community members, including Colorado Mesa University students and alumni, are angry about a white supremacist speaker scheduled to talk at the University Center on Thursday.

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the speaker, Jared Taylor, as the 1990 founder of the New Century Foundation, “a self-styled think tank that promotes pseudo-scientific studies and research” that purports to show the superiority of white people.

The Foundation is known for its American Renaissance magazine and website, which often features proponents of eugenics, as well as anti-Black racists. The New Century Foundation also sponsors conferences attended by Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, according to the SPLC.

Students and community members have planned a protest prior to the event, at 4 p.m. on the corner of 12th Street and North Avenue in Grand Junction. The group will gather there before marching through CMU campus to the University Center.

Max Applebaugh, a 21-year-old CMU junior majoring in business, founded the Western Culture Club with five members about a month ago, after another club had cut ties with him over personal disagreements, he said. One of the Western Culture Club’s first actions was to invite Taylor to campus to speak. Applebaugh is president of the club. He is also secretary of the conservative CMU-Turning Point USA club.

“I’ve been wanting to bring Jared Taylor for a few months now,” Applebaugh said. “I had a personal connection — a lawyer friend named Jason Lee Van Dyke, based in Texas, who made it possible. He paid for Taylor’s flight, accommodations and stay.”

Van Dyke is a former member of the Proud Boys extremist group and is known for representing far-right defendants in court, according to Cleveland.com.

Fifteen CMU students who are opposed to Taylor coming to their campus attempted to quash the invitation by joining the Western Culture Club and electing new members. They had hoped to rescind the invitation but the college administration refused to recognize the election, several members said.

One of the students, senior Tahirah Pedro Bochmann, said they asked the club’s faculty advisor — business instructor Georgann Jouflas — to recognize the election, which Bochmann said Jouflas declined to do.

“She said we should ‘just let it go,'” Bochmann said.

Jouflas said she had become acquainted with Applebaugh when he was her student the prior semester. She said she was impressed that he was always reading before class, typically a history book, as opposed to being on his phone or computer. She said she enjoyed their conversations and his intellectual curiosity, so when he asked if she’d sponsor his club, she agreed.

She said her role was not to approve or disapprove of the club’s speakers but to guide it through the process of securing approval from CMU’s Student Life, which she said she did. Jouflas said she wished the club had chosen a different speaker.

“I do not support white supremacy in any form,” she said. “Freedom of speech is easy to support when you agree with what is being said. It becomes much more difficult when you do not.”

University President John Marshall did not respond to phone or email requests for comment by the time of publication. Director of Student Life Trey Downey also did not respond to a request for an interview.

Applebaugh, who said he grew up in Frisco, acknowledges that Taylor’s ideas about race make some people feel uncomfortable.

“(Taylor) describes himself as a white advocate,” Applebaugh said. “And that people should have the option to their own spaces.”

Applebaugh said he considers himself a white nationalist and libertarian.

“I do believe strongly in advocating for the interests of white people, because there are forces in America that are anti-white,” he said.

Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com.

The already delayed trial of former Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters has been postponed yet again. Her criminal trial was scheduled to begin Friday, but now it’s set to start in July.

Peters was indicted in March 2022 by a grand jury on seven felony charges and three misdemeanors, all related to her attempts to prove election fraud in Mesa County.

During a review hearing on Tuesday, District Judge Matthew Barrett granted Peters’ request for a continuance, reversing a decision he had made the day before when Peters requested that her trial be delayed.

At issue was Peters’ firing of her latest attorney, Douglas Richards, citing a “breakdown in the relationship” and “irreconcilable conflict.” She replaced Richards with a new attorney, her fifth, Michael Edminister, and said she needed more time to prepare.

During Tuesday’s proceeding, Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein twice asked for Peters’ camera to be turned on at all times. She had asked to appear remotely for the review hearing due to being ill with COVID. Once the camera was on, Peters coughed lightly, and said “I’m not feeling well.”

Barrett mentioned Peters’ claims of illness as a second factor in granting the continuance — though Rubinstein appeared skeptical. He requested that Peters provide a document from a licensed physician confirming the diagnosis — an order that Barrett granted. Peters must obtain the diagnosis by the end of the day Thursday.

“She’s already been convicted of lying once,” Rubinstein said.

In a separate but related case in 2022, Peters was cited for contempt of court for recording a court hearing and lying about it.

Barrett first denied Peters’ request for continuance due to the age of the case, her efforts to delay, and the nature of the allegations. Though he expressed concern regarding the latest request for continuance occurring so close to trial, in light of Peters’ illness, and the hiring of new counsel, he changed his mind Tuesday.

Edminister, who also appeared via video, said, “If the court was made aware of what Tina Peters feels is the conflict it would understand this is not for purposes of delay — but a schism between her and her attorney. I submit that if we had a vehicle where you could hear testimony from Tina Peters where prosecution was not involved, or there was a different judge, if you were aware of all the factors that went into her decision you’d understand where she’s coming from.”

At one point during the hearing Rubinstein stood up and pointed out that the camera was off again. After turning the camera back on, Peters reiterated that she was not feeling well, and that her nose was bleeding.

Barrett said due to her being sick, and her need for representation, he would grant a continuance, after making sure Peters agreed to waive her right to a speedy trial.

“But a warning has been given,” Barrett said. “The case must proceed to trial. At some point this must end. Numerous attorneys have cycled through. We will bring you to trial within six months.”

Peters faces three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, two counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, one count of criminal impersonation and one count of identity theft. An election denier, Peters is alleged to have participated in a scheme to breach secure equipment in her own elections office in 2021 in an attempt to find evidence that Colorado’s voting system was rigged.

Rubinstein also asked the court to restrict Peters from leaving Mesa County without permission. Barrett declined the request, saying that “Tina Peters knows there will be no other continuance on this matter, and the expectation is she will be involved with her counsel. I will not restrict her movements more than her condition of bond.”

“This case is relatively simple, it’s not complex. No more than five months is necessary to get Edminister up to speed,” Barrett said.

‘Slap in the face’

Before the trial was postponed, Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williams sent out an email to Republicans asking for their “prayers” for Peters. He referred to the charges as “retaliation, persecution, and prosecution for preserving our election records and exposing the fraud inside the machines.”

Claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent or compromised have been debunked by elections officials, experts, media investigations, law enforcement and the courts.

On Monday a long list of Republicans — including former secretaries of state Mary Estill Buchanan and Mike Coffman, the current Aurora mayor — responded in dismay to Williams’ call to “support disgraced former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.”

“As current and former Republican election officials, your decision to support an individual who has actively worked to undermine our elections statewide is a slap in the face and an affront to each of us who have worked to become experts in election administration and to build and sustain secure elections in Colorado over many decades,” the group said, adding, “To be clear, there was no fraud in Mesa County elections. She led a willful breach of her voting system. Peters did not uncover any fraud or threats to Mesa County elections. In the end, she herself was the threat to election integrity in the county. Her actions made elections less secure and more susceptible to nefarious activity. She has since embarked on a national campaign to discredit our elections processes, the same processes she never bothered to understand when she served as a county clerk. She has also profited financially and has become quite famous while trying to deflect blame, putting her former staff and others in harm’s way and saddling Mesa County taxpayers with more than one million dollars in expenses to unnecessarily recount election results and replace the voting systems she compromised.”

The email from Williams also prompted a scathing reply from former former Mesa County GOP Chairman Kevin McCarney in an email addressed to the Republican Party’s Central Committee members. McCarthy, who once supported Peters, told Williams he was supporting “criminality,” and was making it harder to elect Republicans in 2024.

A jury trial has been set for July 31, after two days of jury selection.

Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com. Follow Colorado Newsline on Facebook and Twitter.