Elections 2024: Our Endorsements

Ukraine faces a struggle for survival and the United States faces critical choices at the ballot box. In a nutshell, this is what lies behind the creation of this Political Action Committee. Here in Colorado, those of us who support Ukraine feel that we must make our voices clearly heard by those who would determine America’s policy toward Ukraine and the malefactor Vladimir Putin.

To that end, we are issuing public endorsements in the race for President of the United States and in the races to fill Colorado’s eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The past ten years, and the past two and a half years in particular, have shown how important these choices are. The wrong person in the Oval Office and the wrong leadership in the U.S. Congress can be fatal for Ukraine, for the United States, and for the future of freedom and the rule of law in the world.

As our name implies, the Colorado Ukrainian Political Action Committee makes recommendations based on what we think will benefit Ukraine and her courageous people, along with building stronger ties between Ukraine and our own state and country. Colorado voters face many other issues, from education to housing, from environment to transportation. But we leave to others to opine on the candidates’ positions on those matters. Our goal is to help Ukraine survive and emerge victorious. Our endorsements are therefore based solely on who we think will do the best job of supporting Ukraine and defeating Putin’s Russia.

In the race to become the 47th President of the United States, we unequivocally support Kamala Harris. As Vice President, she has been a steadfast partner to Joe Biden and Biden — despite his incrementalist approach to military support for Ukraine — has been Ukraine’s most important ally. Without the billions of dollars worth of HIMARS, ATACMS, Patriot systems, Javelins, artillery shells, Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles given to Ukraine — as well as critical intelligence sharing — there is little chance that Ukraine could have withstood the Russian onslaught. In addition, the Biden-Harris administration has given life-sustaining humanitarian and financial assistance to Ukraine that has helped keep the economy and government of Ukraine afloat.

Just as important, Biden and Harris have organized and rallied a 50-nation coalition to come to Ukraine’s defense. Speaking at the Munich Security Conference last February, Kamala Harris put it this way: “The world has come together, with leadership from the United States, to defend the basic principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity and to stop an imperialist authoritarian from subjugating a free and democratic people.”

There is little doubt what the election of Donald Trump would mean for this coalition and for Ukraine. During his four years as U.S. President, Trump denigrated our NATO allies and praised Putin, inviting him “to do whatever the hell he wants” in Europe should NATO countries not increase their defense budgets. When Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Trump called it “genius…you gotta say that’s pretty savvy.” Given the chance to recant these views, Trump only doubles down. Last month, in his televised debate with Harris, Trump refused to say whether he supported a victory by Ukraine in the conflict. Last week, after meeting Zelenskyy in New York, Trump claimed that his “very good” relationship with Putin would enable him to end the war on his first day in office. Meanwhile, he derides Zelenskyy for making “nasty little aspersions about me” and calls him a “salesman” for successfully appealing to the West for help. “And we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal — Zelensky,” Trump said derisively.

Trump’s long history with Russia and Putin has been examined at length and need not be repeated here. Suffice it to say that some of the top people Trump chose to conduct his foreign policy — Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, National Security Adviser John Bolton, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper — now consider Trump a threat not only to Ukraine’s welfare but to the security of the United States.

Indeed, an open letter signed last month by more than 100 Republican ex-officials from the Reagan, Bush and Trump administrations cites Trump’s “susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, unusual affinity for other authoritarian leaders, contempt for the norms of decent, ethical and lawful behavior, and chaotic national security decision-making…He is unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust.”

Our endorsements at the state level — the eight contests for the U.S. House of Representatives — are also based on their impact on Ukraine’s defense and struggle for victory.

We must begin by acknowledging that our nation’s divided government is a natural result of America’s divided politics. National level Ukrainian organizations such as Razom and Nova Ukraine have been smart to credit and solicit support for Ukraine from both Democrats and Republicans. We at Colorado Ukrainian PAC heartily agree. However, the last two years have coincided with Republican control of the House — first, under Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California and now Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana. During this period, as Ukraine depended on U.S. military aid, House Republicans engaged in an internal power struggle that verged on dysfunction. For six months, from October 2023 to April 2024, the Biden Administration’s request for more funding for Ukraine languished in the House. Speaker Johnson simply refused to let it be considered. Colorado’s three Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives — Lauren Boebert (CO-03), Ken Buck (CO-04) and Doug Lamborn (CO-05) did nothing to unblock this intra-Republican stalemate. At the national level, neither did Trump. As a result, Ukraine endured serious losses on the battlefield and massive destruction across the country.

We note that the Colorado Republican Party also has internal divisions that make it difficult to judge how the entire slate of Republican candidates would vote on Ukraine-related matters if they got into office. Buck and Lamborn have retired and Boebert has moved into CO-03 to try to take Buck’s old seat. If she beats Democrat Trisha Calvarese, Boebert will undoubtedly continue her longstanding pattern of voting against Ukraine. Consider Boebert’s tweet when most Republicans in the House of Representatives finally voted for Ukraine aid and First District Democrat Rep. Diana DeGette passed out small Ukrainian flags on the floor of the House in celebration: “Such an embarrassing and disgusting show of America LAST politicians! You love Ukraine so much, get your ass over there and leave America’s governing to those who love THIS country!”

For that reason, we strongly endorse Trisha Calvarese in Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District.

We also strongly endorse the incumbent Democrats: Diana DeGette (CO-01), Joe Neguse (CO-02), Jason Crow (CO-06), Brittney Petterson (CO-07) and Yadira Caraveo (CO-08). They all have reliably voted to support Ukraine in this Congress and so we owe them our support. In particular, the role played by Jason Crow should be highlighted and recognized. As a member of the House Intelligence and House Foreign Affairs Committees, Crow has been among the very ablest advocates for Ukraine in Washington DC, a defender of America’s security without peer.

In Colorado’s Third (Grand Junction) and Fifth (Colorado Springs) Districts, there are no incumbent candidates and so no record on Ukraine for us to judge. Democrat Adam Frisch and Republican Jeff Hurd are both experienced, but Frisch was less equivocal in responding to a question from the Colorado Sun regarding support for Ukraine so we endorse Adam Frisch to represent the Western Slope.

As far as the Fifth District, where Republican Jeff Crank is heavily favored over Democrat River Gassen, we have chosen to make no endorsement at this time.

COLORADO UKRAINIAN POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

Denver, Colorado

www.coloradoukrainianpac.org