Perhaps Boebert thinks voters in eastern Colorado are more forgiving of congress members giving people handjobs in public than people in western Colorado. She switched districts. CO-03 has an R+15 partisan lean— pretty strong for a Republican— but CO-04, from which Ken Buck is retiring, has an R+26 lean. Trump won her old district by 8.3 points and won Buck’s district by 18.6 points. The 2022 congressional election was all about Boebert’s inadequacies as a member of Congress— and it was the closest race in the country. After a recount, she won by 546 votes out of 327,132 ballots cast.
Pre-handjob Boebert- 163,839 (50.08%)
Adam Frisch- 163,293 (49.92%)
In a rematch, she seemed destined for a 2024 defeat. In a bizarre appearance on Steve Bannon’s podcast, she blamed Ryan Reynolds and Barbra Streisand instead of the handjob incident for her decision to abandon her district and try a new one. Shew accused them of “trying to buy” her district after they contributed to Frisch’s campaign. “But we need a strong voice there and we have to shut down the Hollywood elites who are trying to buy my current district. There has been close to $10 million poured into this district to buy the seat, and Colorado 3rd District is not for sale.” Streisand donated $1,000 to Frisch’s campaign and Reynolds donated $500. A former escort who was persuaded by one of her clients (Ted Cruz) to run for Congress, Boebert is a functional moron who conflated their contributions with “dark money,” apparently not understanding what the term means.
CNN pointed out that the 4th district is 75.8% white (as opposed to 66.7% in the 3rd), something that may help Boebert. But… 48.5% of CO-04 voters are college graduates (unlike Boebert who dropped out of high school), while CO-03 has just over a third with college diplomas. Will more educated voters tolerate a moron? We’ll soon see.
There were already 7 Republicans running when Boebert announced she’s switching districts, including establishment types and hardcore MAGAts. And a few days after Boebert announced, the Colorado House Minority Leader Mike Lynch also jumped into the race. He took the gloves right off: “I’m sick of being represented by people that are not sincere in their service. I think what’s wrong with this country is [Congress] has become a job where your first concern is yourself. I think the people of CD-4 deserve to have somebody that’s fighting for them who knows how to do it.”
Assuming all of the Republican candidates running in the 4th District make the ballot— they must either collect 1,500 Republican voter signatures or secure a spot through the caucus and assembly process— the large field could work to Boebert’s advantage.
The congresswoman’s challengers will be battling for the anti-Boebert vote, which may in turn block any one of them from exceeding her vote total.
“I think that’s a mathematical certainty— that every credible candidate who gets in there and peels off 5-10% from the other candidates makes it that much more likely that Lauren wins,” said former state Sen. Greg Brophy, a Republican who lives near the town of Wray, which is in the 4th District.
Brophy, who is supporting [former state Sen. Jerry] Sonnenberg, said another candidate could break through in the crowded race, but they would have to spend a lot of money to combat Boebert’s name recognition.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, the U.S. House GOP campaign arm, told The Sun on Tuesday that it views Boebert as an incumbent, even though she’s running in a new district.
It’s unclear if that status will come with financial or other support in the primary.
Meanwhile, Boebert’s departure in the 3rd District race has prompted other Republicans to eye the seat. State Rep. Ron Hanks, an election conspiracy theorist who lost in Colorado’s 2022 Republican primary for U.S. Senate, announced his campaign Friday.
State Rep. Matt Soper of Delta, told The Sun last week he’s “seriously interested in jumping into the race.” Colorado Board of Education member Stephen Varela of Pueblo, who ran unsuccessfully for a state Senate seat in 2022, also said he is “strongly considering the race.”
Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd, who is supported by a number of big-name Republicans, including former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown, was already running in the GOP primary in the 3rd District when Boebert announced her switch.
Colorado’s congressional primary elections will be held June 25.
On Wednesday, MAGA Mike, a guy with a major personal porn problem, endorsed Boebert. He gave her a vapid garden variety quote to use in a fundraising e-mail: “Since the day she was elected, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert has been a relentless force for conservative governance and a tireless advocate for Coloradans. She has stayed true to her conservative principles and fought to produce real results for Colorado, from defending energy producers to increasing critical resources for our veterans and supporting rural ranchers and farmers. I am proud to endorse and fully support her campaign for Colorado's 4th Congressional District because we need fighters like Lauren Boebert in Congress.”
