The annual Western Conservative Summit drew hundreds of supporters to downtown Denver this weekend but left organizers disappointed by a lack of support from the national conservative movement.
The summit comes at a time when Democrats have a historic level of control over the Colorado legislature, governor's office and both U.S. Senate seats. The once-purple state has become increasingly blue in recent years.
The conference spanned Friday and Saturday at the Denver Convention Center and was centered around claims that faith and traditional family values are under attack by the left. It consisted of an exposition showcasing conservative organizations and a lineup of speakers that included right-wing politicians, activists, religious leaders, business executives and media personalities.
Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was one of the headliners. Other speakers included Colorado representatives Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and former Donald Trump attorney Jenna Ellis. Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was the only conservative presidential hopeful at the event. Organizers, however, had hoped bigger-name presidential candidates would attend.
“We didn't get the big presidential names we needed. That's the reality. This would have looked a little different with Trump or DeSantis,” Jeff Hunt, president of Colorado Christian University’s Centennial Institute that hosts the summit each year, said. “We can't seem to get the national conservatives to pay attention.”
Hunt said he wants to see the national conservative movement focus more on the Western U.S., where he said Democrats have made gains over the years. Hunt referenced the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver and the fact that there has not been a Republican National Convention in the West since 1996. He also called out former President Trump for only visiting Colorado twice during his presidency.
“That's disheartening,” Hunt said, mentioning the fact that Democrats have control of the governor’s office, state legislature and all statewide-elected offices in Colorado. “I think we've got a long crawl back to get the state [in] the direction we want to go, and we need to gear up for that.”
Hunt sees the conference as a first step toward the right-wing resurgence the state’s conservative contingent would like to see. He is also hopeful that young people can help carry the movement into the future. Hunt said The Centennial Institute Youth Conference that took place during this weekend's summit increased from 25 attendees last year to 75 this year.
Speakers at the conference focused largely on claims that Christianity and conservative family values are under threat. Rep. Boebert spoke on Friday night, spending much of her time attacking transgender people.
“I’ll tell you how they trade the truth for a lie. It’s when they say a man can be a woman, a man can be pregnant, a man can play in women's sports,” Boebert said, prompting a round of applause from an audience that filled less than half of the auditorium's seats.
She also attacked 'woke' school curriculums and corporations and called for more religious influence, specifically from Christianity, in the U.S. government.
“I think that that’s something we need to get back to here in America - being familiar with the spoken, with the written word of God - so we can then speak it into our lives, into our children's lives, into our children’s children’s lives, and into our nation,” Boebert said.
Boebert further railed against President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for the recent deal to raise the federal debt ceiling and defended former President Trump against his most recent scandal, alleging that his indictment last week for mishandling classified government documents was politically-motivated.
