Former Democratic congressional candidate Ike McCorkle, who recently lost his primary bid to run against Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 4th District, was arrested earlier this week for allegedly violating a protection order filed against him by a family member.
McCorkle, 45, appeared in Douglas County Court shortly after the arrest, his second this year, and posted a $1,000 bond on a misdemeanor charge. McCorkle is scheduled for a sentencing hearing on Oct. 8. In the meantime, the judge issued a mandatory protection order on top of the original order.
The mandatory court order serves as additional protection for his uncle, Jim McCorkle, and Jim’s family members. A violation of this order could result in additional criminal charges, including contempt of court, arrest or harsher penalties.
Ike McCorkle was first arrested in January after sending an email to Jim, who had a protection order in place that began on Aug. 23, 2022, and expires on Aug. 23 this year. Under the order, which also protects Jim’s wife, daughter and two grandchildren, McCorkle was directed not to make contact of any kind, including email.
Yet, according to Jim, McCorkle sent 14 family members, including Jim’s brother, sisters and other close relatives, an email this week directing them to “tell Uncle Jim that he is a child abusing petty, disgusting, arrogant, cowardice, lying piece of dog feces that has never served a day in his life.”
Reached by phone, McCorkle declined to comment for this story.
In the email, McCorkle wrote that he is in the process of getting Jim’s claims and legal actions thrown out and that once he does he plans on suing Jim for defamation and other alleged offenses.
Five days before he sent that email, McCorkle pleaded guilty to the charges stemming from his January arrest and admitted to violating the court-ordered protection order.
In the plea agreement, Chief Deputy District Attorney Garrik Storgaard agreed to a sentencing hearing in early October that includes an investigation into whether McCorkle should be allowed to possess a firearm as part of his probation terms.
McCorkle holds a federal firearms license and owns a firearms business called Uncle Ike’s Firearms Emporium.
It’s unclear if the terms of that settlement agreement, which included six months of supervised probation and the completion of a court-ordered mental health evaluation and treatment, will change based on McCorkle’s recent contact with Jim’s family and arrest.
McCorkle lost his third attempt to win the 4th Congressional District seat in July after his primary opponent, Trisha Calvarese, earned 45% of the vote to his 41%. He ran unopposed in the 2020 and 2022 Democratic primaries but lost to former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck in the general election.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:45 p.m., Aug. 9, 2024, to correct the date of the sentencing hearing.
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