DENVER — Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert announced Wednesday that she is switching congressional districts, avoiding a likely rematch against a Democrat who far outpaced her and after an embarrassing moment of groping and vaping that shook even loyal supporters.
In a Facebook video Wednesday evening, Boebert announced she would enter the crowded Republican primary by filling the seat of Rep. Ken Buck on the eastern side of the state, which would leave her behind the more competitive 3rd District seat that she barely won last year — and which she put in jeopardy. to lose next year, as some in her party have soured on her controversial style.
Boebert suggested in the video that her departure from the district would help Republicans keep the seat, saying, “I will not allow dark money aimed at destroying me personally to steal this seat. It's not fair versus the 3rd District and the conservatives there… who fought so hard for our victories.”
“We must protect our majority in the House of Representatives,” she said.
Boebert called it “a new start,” in recognition of the tough year following a divorce from her husband and a video of her misbehavior during a date at a performance of the musical “Beetlejuice” in Denver. The September scandal roiled some of her loyal supporters, who saw it as a violation of conservative Christian values and for which Boebert apologized at events in her district.
She already faced a major challenge in her district, as well as a showdown in the general election with Democrat Adam Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman who could defeat her within a few hundred votes in 2022. A rematch was expected, with Frisch raising more than $7.7 million to date, giving Boebert's $2.4 million.
If Boebert wins the primary to succeed Buck, she will instead run in the state's most conservative district, which former President Donald Trump won by about 20 percentage points in 2020, as opposed to his margin of about 8 percentage points in her district.
“It's the right move for me personally, and it's the right decision for those who support our conservative movement. This is the right step for Colorado, for us,” Boebert said in her video.
Boebert rocked the political world by pulling off a surprise primary victory against the incumbent Republican congresswoman in the 3rd District in 2020, when she ran a gun-themed restaurant in the town of Rifle, Colorado. She then tried to enter the U.S. Capitol with a gun and began feuding with prominent liberal Democrats such as Rep. Ilhan Omar and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Her voters, however, were fed up with her antics and nearly handed the seat to Frisch in 2022 in a district that had a tradition of electing low-key pragmatists. This year was even more intense for Boebert after the public release of the video of the musical in Denver, for which she apologized.
