Fourth of July in Trump Country, CO

As the Fourth of July approached and House Republicans worked through the night to garner the necessary votes to pass President Trump’s landmark One Big Beautiful Act by his Independence Day deadline, some in Colorado asked themselves what there could possibly be to celebrate this year.

The bill’s impact is projected to hit Colorado’s rural communities especially hard. 

Estimates are that nearly 241,000 residents of the square state will lose their health care because of the bill’s $900 billion cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. Disabled and chronically ill residents will have to leap through new loops to continue to receive life-saving care. 

As protests were planned in the state’s urban centers, where the majority of the population lives and where s plurality gave Colorado to Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, the question remained: What were people celebrating in this moment?

And where to go, to find out?

On a clear day, the Rocky Mountains are just visible in your rear view mirror. They serve as a subtle reminder that you’re still in Colorado, though the plains rising to meet you begin to mirror neighboring Kansas.

On the sunny Fourth of July, two children break away from the produced activities to fish together in the stocked pond of City Park in La Junta, Col. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene)

As the mountains fade behind you, with them go the majority blue leanings of the Front Range. With Democrats controlling every branch of the state’s government and the last 20 years of federal elections going to a Democratic president, it can be easy to forget that – federally – this is still a purple state. 

50% of Colorado’s representatives in the People’s Chamber are Republicans, and the two Democrat Senators are sure to make regular appeasements to GOP policies and appointments. Ostensibly they do this for the sake of bipartisan collaboration, it’s a reflection of the need to oscillate within the spectrum of political leanings they represent statewide. 

Turning East from Pueblo, where voters flipped then flopped between Presidents Trump, Biden, and Trump again you enter the counties represented in Congress by Republicans like Congressman Jeff Hurd.

Here, you’re entering Trump Country, CO.

In the fertile Arkansas Valley, where settlers once passed through on the Santa Fe Trail, you pass feedlots and huge commercial farms following the train tracks until you arrive in La Junta, the county seat for Otero County. 

Once a simple trading post, the small town reflects the natural beauty of the plains while preserving their historic past, the charm of centuries-old railtown buildings lining broad mainstreets as you head away from the railroad tracks. Commercial turns to residential as shady tree-lined streets lead you past parks, schools, and churches. 

The Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center said in a press release that “In Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District—our district—nearly 1 in 3 people (31%) rely on
Medicaid for healthcare. That includes over 228,000 individuals, 14,700 people with
disabilities, and thousands of children. Cutting Medicaid funding would have dangerous,
real-life consequences.” (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

La Junta is also home to Arkansas Valley Regional Medical Center. A 25 bed critical access hospital, AVRMC is the area’s only option for immediate life-saving critical response. The next closest is 75 miles away in Walensburg, requiring those with urgent needs to travel back to the 1-25 corridor for their care. 

“Yes – ‘The Big Beautiful Bill’ will absolutely hurt AVRMC, other rural hospitals and the citizens in the communities we collectively serve,” stated a recent press release from the hospital. “It threatens emergency rooms, would force families to forgo essential care, and dismantle the fabric of rural communities like ours.”

In Congressman Hurd’s District— which includes Otero County — one third of the residents rely on Medicaid for healthcare, 228,000 individuals. 

In November 2024, there were 14,164 eligible voters in Otero County and 5,520 cast their ballot for President Trump and with only 8,926 people choosing to participate, it was enough to secure 62% of the votes for the MAGA candidate.

Now, though, everyone would be feeling the impact of the policies being enacted whether they voted for them, against them, or chose to abstain. 

In the Otero county seat, where the population has steadily declined as the poverty rate has risen – now more than 1 in 4 residents – still home to thousands of children and disabled Americans, the reality is they will lose access to necessary medical care leaving a significant portion needlessly vulnerable. 

As President Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Act into law, paying for tax breaks for the über-wealthy by gutting the health care of the poor, it was time to celebrate America.

In Denver, while the 4th of July parade meandered through crowded streets, people marched and protested the decision, engaging in direct action voicing their opposition to the new law. 

In the Southeast, as the morning sun heated up the concrete streets leading into Trump Country, Colorado, it wasn’t immediately clear how the news was being received. 

There were no Make America Great Again billboards on the farms you passed nor were duallys with more Trump flags than axels rolling coal to ensure they were noticed. When asked directly about the bill, many admitted they were nervous about feeling the impact personally while asserting they support the stated “put people to work” intentions of the Medicaid rollbacks. 

When asked what they were celebrating that day, answers varied between general assertions of freedom to being compelled to wave a flag for a family member serving in the military. Not a single person said they were celebrating the trajectory of the federal government. 

Watching how this community came together, though, in the early morning air as the bill that would close their hospital became law, it became clear what the party atmosphere revolved around. Their town. Their people. 

Poet Toi Derricotte said “joy is an act of resistance,” though not a direct act, it is one which can offer a subterfuge to the hardships of living in a time when working people are seeing their safety nets removed for the sake of billionaires’ profits and to make Immigration and Customs Enforcement the largest federal law enforcement agency in the nation. 

On the streets of La Junta, the community greeted the Fourth of July was greeted with joy.

Chuck Mongregon poses with his family during the annual 4th of July Wet & Dry Parade through the mainstreets of La Junta, Colorado. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

County residents encircled the main street business district and the Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual Wet & Dry Parade, with the fire department using a large ladder truck to create a sheet of water through the central square as trucks and trailers carrying livestock water containers drove the loop. The people on the trucks tossed no candy and there weren’t the waving sign carriers ubiquitous with American parades. 

Instead, those on the floats used every style of squirt gun, bucket, or hose to combat the onslaught of water sent their way from the similarly aquatically-armed crowd on the sidewalks. Smiles, laughter, and the sounds of sloshing shoes echoed. 

Soaking, dripping and feeling the good sense of camaraderie from a game played with no stakes but to have fun, the event wrapped up as lunch time approached. Within an hour the streets and everyone’s clothes would be dry, compliments of the already-80-degree day. Some went to their homes to light the barbecue and begin their individual celebrations while many trekked to the city’s central park for the Stars and Stripes Festival. 

Produced by Trent Ryan and Ark Valley Entertainment, attendees were invited to listen to a Christian prayer service from local minister John Jaramillo and performance from local singer/songwriter Caitlyn Tibbles while strolling through a market which included a mobile veteran’s museum, the local free kitchen, and a Medicare/Medicaid help booth.

Roberta Caulkins-Mendoza, a Otero County community leader and insurance professional, answers questions about Medicare and Medicaid while President Trump signed in to law an act which will reallocate $900,000,000,000 to other federal efforts, mainly punitive immigration enforcement. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

Roberta Caulkins-Mendoza, a local licensed insurance agent and community leader – she directed the water fight many had just come from – was there to answer any questions anyone had about their healthcare. She tables locally regularly, working to ensure her neighbors have access to important information about their federally provided Medicaid. This year, she was fielding an uptick in questions about the possibility of losing coverage. 

That they wouldn’t be feeling the impact for a few years was the assurance many offered, when asked.

Cylus smiles and watches the sparks from a handheld firework pour over his head as he awaited the night sky to get dark enough for the fire department to begin the large 4th of July firework show with his mom in Rocky Ford, Colorado. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellowscene)

The day would end with an incredible fireworks show in neighboring Rocky Ford, where first responders coordinate to produce an event which draws the county community together to culminate their celebration. As the sun sets, families play with the sparklers, smoke bombs, and firecrackers they brought from home. 

A little after nine, the music in the speakers is paused, vendors’ generators are silenced, and the national anthem is sung. At “rockets’ red glare” the audience is rewarded with the first large firework of the evening and for the next thirty minutes the oohs and aahs of the crowd were just audible above the incendiaries exploding above.

In Trump Country, Colorado, on the Fourth of July community was celebrated with uncertainty about what would come next as pungent as the sulfur in the ashes. 

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Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.