On Tuesday night, JJ’s Place in Aurora was where a number of Republican candidates and their supporters gathered to watch election results come in.
The restaurant is owned by Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky, a central figure in the controversy over Venezuelan immigrants in the city. While she was at the gathering, she declined to speak with CPR News about the elections.
1st Congressional District candidate Valdamar Archuleta, who occupied a table with his campaign director and other local conservative figures, was more open to talking.
“Things may have not gone as perfect for everyone in Colorado, as far as we know right now, but we are positive. I think everybody ran good campaigns,” said Archuleta.
In his own race, Archuleta was defeated four-to-one by Democratic incumbent Diana DeGette. The Denver-based district is Colorado’s bluest congressional seat. But he believes his time campaigning was well spent.
“We have moved the needle a little bit. We've started conversations in the city. People are noticing who we are and noticing that there are Republicans in cities like Aurora and Denver who are speaking up and who are becoming involved in politics and being part of the conversation, the culture and the movement. And so, it's a good night. We're happy,” Archuleta said.
The other congressional candidate at the party — 6th District hopeful John Fabbricatore — was less upbeat. The Republican felt he’d run a good race against Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, but left disappointed in the final outcome, which saw him losing 59 to 39 percent.
“It looks like a lot of voters, again, still did not show up, especially on the Republican side,” he said.
Fabbicatore, who retired from a high ranking position in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, blamed the controversy and power struggles in Colorado’s Republican Party leadership for hurting the chances of its candidates.
“There's a lot of disarray,” he said. “I am a guy that expects operational plans when you want to do something. When I got into this race, I didn't feel like there was any idea or plan on winning races for this state. There needs to be some goals and vision for this party if we're ever going to win, and I just don't believe that we have that right now in this state.”
Fabbricatore made immigration a central theme of his campaign, an issue that pushed Aurora to the forefront of the presidential campaign, with former President Donald Trump visiting the state to spread dark claims about the city’s Venezuelan immigrants.
“I'm all for immigration and I'm all for people coming over here with asylum claims. But we let in criminals because the vetting was so bad and that is my issue,” said Fabbricatore. “We've created a really bad problem for our country.”
Immigration, along with cost of living, is a top issue for Steven Monahan from Greenwich Village, who came out to support Fabbricatore in particular.
While his candidate didn’t win, he was excited at the prospect of a second Trump administration, and the other figures who might come up in it.
“Quite frankly, I love the coalition. I want to see Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard. I want to see those people. They're talking about the things that matter to me: getting the government out of our lives, ‘making America healthy again’ is the new catch phrase,” said Monahan. “I mean, we're whistling past the graveyard on $40 trillion in debt. I was like, I want people that recognize that and are dedicated to finding a solution and at least working towards something.”
Also at the party was David Dabney, a 28-year-old African American from Kentucky. He previously voted Democratic but switched parties after being dissatisfied with President Biden.
“When Biden got elected, I was super excited, and now four years later, I'm voting for Trump and I am terrified if Kamala gets elected,” he explained. “Part of that is foreign policy. I think the Democrats are now the party of the military industrial complex, the swamp, the bureaucrats in DC that are not looking out for the American interest.”
Dabney also believes Trump is more authentic when it comes to his platform.
“Trump doesn't need a teleprompter. Trump is extremely charismatic, and he's the change that we've been asking for since Obama coined that term,” he said.
