DENVER – U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert faced Republican primary voters on Tuesday after fleeing a difficult re-election race to run in a more Republican-leaning district plagued by carpetbagging accusations and still hurt from an embarrassing video.
Boebert, who planted his MAGA flag in the House of Representatives in 2020, has amassed national conservative influence. But along with the spotlight came public scandals. Her decision to change districts came after video emerged of her vaping and causing a disturbance with a date at a musical production of “Beetlejuice.”
Boebert said she made the move to ensure another Republican could win her old district, which she nearly lost in 2022, and blamed outside groups for attacking her. But she has already become a fundraising magnet for the district’s presumptive Democratic nominee, who has raised millions that could help him flip a seat that has tilted Republican in recent years.
On Tuesday, voters will have their say in Boebert’s new district, where she faced more traditional rivals including former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg; current state representatives Mike Lynch and Richard Holtorf; and parental rights advocate Deborah Flora.
While the theater incident and Boebert’s district jump rattled some Republicans, Gilbert Kendzior, 68, a voter in Boebert’s new district, shrugged, asking “who’s perfect?”
Kendzior said he voted for the deputy because she shakes things up. “He was very sober. The same promises, nothing happens,” he said. “We need to get rid of the old farts.”
The winner is also expected to run in the November general election in the strongly conservative 4th Congressional District, which encompasses a wide expanse of farms, ghost towns and conservative parts of the Denver metro area that make up much of Colorado’s eastern plains. Its voters overwhelmingly supported former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
The vacancy was opened after the former Republican congressman. Ken Buck resigned from Congress. A special election was also being held Tuesday to fill the remaining months of Buck’s term, with Republican Greg Lopez, the former mayor of the city of Parker, the favorite to defeat a Democrat and third-party candidates.
Buck cited the divisiveness of current politics and his party’s devotion to Trump in explaining his decision to resign. That divide remains a factor in the race and is also on display in another Republican House primary, in Colorado Springs, about an hour’s drive south of Denver.
In the 5th Congressional District, Republican Dave Williams faces condemnation from his own ranks and demands his resignation as chairman of the Republican party, accused of using his position and state party resources to boost his own campaign.
The final straw for some Republicans was a recent email calling people celebrating Gay Pride Month “godless crooks.” The state party’s account on social platform X also posted: “Burn all #pride flags this June.”
Williams faces Jeff Crank, a conservative commentator who has a similar political platform but breaks down in style and disposition. Both are vying to fill the seat of Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, who is not seeking re-election.
Williams is a hardline Trump acolyte who has repeated the former president’s lies about the 2020 election and attacked fellow Republicans who don’t fall in line. Crank is modeled on an older, more pragmatic GOP tradition.
As in the 4th District, the winner of the Republican-friendly 5th District will be the favorite in the general election.
Another House race closely watched nationally is the 8th District, newly created after redistricting in 2021 and hotly contested with voters roughly split between the two major parties.
The district, which stretches north of Denver, is currently represented by Democrat Yadira Caraveo, who won by less than 2,000 votes in 2022. Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans and former state Rep. Janak Joshi, a retired doctor, are competing to challenge Caraveo, with Evans being a former police officer, considered the favorite.
The winner of the primary will likely benefit from unexpected support from the Republican National Campaign Committee, which aims to defend the party’s slim majority in the House.
Farther west, between the Rocky Mountains and the high desert mesas, a half-dozen Republicans sought to replace Boebert as their candidate in the 3rd District.
The candidates include attorney Jeff Hurd and former Republican state representative Ron Hanks, whose differences largely follow the lines of Cranks and Williams, respectively. Other candidates include Stephen Varela, a former Democrat who switched parties, businessman Lew Webb and financial consultant Russ Andrews.
The winner will likely face Adam Frisch, the businessman and Democratic candidate who lost to Boebert by just 546 votes in 2022, gaining name recognition in the tight race. in the conservative district. Frisch has raised at least $13 million for his 2024 campaign.
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This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Rep. Caraveo’s first name to Yadira instead of Yadiro.
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Jesse Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover undercovered issues.
