Boebert faces first election Tuesday since switching districts and the vaping scandal
DENVER (AP) — U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was facing Republican primary voters Tuesday after fleeing a tough reelection race to run in a more GOP-leaning district, harried by accusations of carpetbagging and still bruised by an embarrassing video.
Boebert, who planted her MAGA flag in the House of Representatives in 2020, has amassed national conservative clout. But along with the limelight have come public scandals. Her decision to switch districts came after video surfaced of her vaping and causing a disturbance with a date at a musical production of “Beetlejuice.”
Boebert said she made the switch to ensure another Republican could win her old district, which she nearly lost in 2022, and she blamed outside groups for targeting her. But she had already become a fundraising magnet for the district's likely Democratic candidate, who has pulled in millions that may help him flip a seat that has leaned Republican in recent years.
On Tuesday voters will get their say in Boebert's new district, where she faced off against more traditional rivals including former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg; current state Reps. Mike Lynch and Richard Holtorf; and parental rights advocate Deborah Flora.
The winner is expected to also take the November general election in the heavily conservative 4th Congressional District, which sweeps across a wide expanse of ranches, ghost towns and conservative parts of the Denver metro area that make up much of the plains of eastern Colorado. Its voters overwhelmingly backed former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
The seat opened up after former Republican Rep. 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, a former mayor of the city of Parker, favored to beat a Democrat and third-party candidates.
Buck cited the divisiveness of today's politics and his party's devotion to Trump in explaining his decision to resign. That division 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 for his resignation as GOP party chair, 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 groomers.” The state party's account on the social platform X also posted: “Burn all the #pride flags this June.”
Williams faces Jeff Crank, a conservative commentator who has a similar political platform but breaks in style and disposition. Both are vying to fill the seat of Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, who is not seeking reelection.
Williams is a hard-line Trump acolyte who has parroted the former president's lies about the 2020 election and attacked fellow Republicans who don't align. Crank is molded in an older, more pragmatic GOP tradition.
As in the 4th District, the winner of the Republican-friendly 5th District will be favored in the general election.
Another House race watched closely on the national level is the 8th District, newly minted 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 physician, are vying to challenge Caraveo, with Evans a former police officer, considered the front-runner.
The primary winner will likely benefit from a windfall of support from the National Republican Campaign Committee, which is intent on defending the party's thin House majority.
Farther to the west, among the Rocky Mountains and high desert mesas, a half-dozen Republicans were looking to replace Boebert as the nominee in the 3rd District.
The contenders include attorney Jeff Hurd and former Republican state Rep. Ron Hanks, whose differences largely follow the contours of Cranks’ and Williams’, respectively. Other candidates include Stephen Varela, a former Democrat who switched parties, businessman Lew Webb and financial advisor Russ Andrews.
The winner will likely be up against Adam Frisch, the businessman and Democratic candidate who lost to Boebert by only 546 votes in 2022, garnering name recognition from that close race. in the conservative district. Frisch 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 report on undercovered issues.
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