Lauren Boebert Wins Colorado Primary After Jumping to New District

WINDSOR, Colo.—After a tough year of embarrassing scandals, Rep. Lauren Boebert’s jump to a new district paid off.

Boebert bested a crowded Republican field, winning the GOP nomination for a third term in Congress. The win Tuesday came six months after the bombastic Colorado Republican announced she would move her political fortunes from the state’s Western Slope to its Eastern plains and suburbs.

With almost all of the ballots counted, Boebert had 43% of the vote, with her closest rivals, Deborah Flora and Jerry Sonnenberg, at about 14% each. Coloradans, who primarily vote by mail, had until Tuesday to cast their ballots.

In securing the nomination, Boebert is comfortably positioned for the general election in a district with a 13-point Republican advantage, according to the Cook Political Report. Her victory wasn’t a surprise: Boebert had eclipsed her Republican primary rivals in fundraising and was 35 points ahead of the nearest one in a recent poll.

In a grain silo next to a private sledding hill and beach volleyball courts, Boebert mingled with dozens of supporters at a watch party Tuesday night, surrounded by media and Fox News screens.

Shortly after the race was called in her favor, Boebert spoke to a cheering crowd next to a John Deere tractor. “Thank you for showing so much grace and humility and mercy, inviting me to your district,” she said. “President Trump needs us now more than ever.”

Boebert, who first became known on the political stage for her vocal support of gun rights, has gained national recognition over the years for such attention-grabbing antics such as tweeting “Today is 1776” on the day of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack and booing President Biden during the State of the Union. On Friday, she received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who called her a “trusted America First Fighter.”

While she has toned down her confrontational style, Boebert remains a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, which often clashes with party leadership, drawing the support of voters angry at the status quo. Retirements have left all three of Colorado’s GOP districts without incumbents this year, amid a slew of planned Republican exits that included many dealmakers and could further empower the anti-leadership wing.

‘A lot of spirit’

In Douglas County, a wealthy suburb of Denver that makes up nearly half of the district’s Republicans, several voters pulling in to cast or drop off a ballot next to the bleachers of the local fairgrounds were supportive of Boebert.

“I know she’s controversial, but she has a lot of spirit and she’ll fight for what’s important,” said Charlie VanderLinden, a Castle Rock retiree who said national issues including immigration and crime led her to vote for Boebert. VanderLinden was one of the few people who chose to vote in person, because she said she didn’t trust her mail-in ballot.

Rival GOP candidates had hoped voters would be turned off by Boebert’s back story.

“We’re hearing that there’s a lot of people wanting to move away from drama and dysfunction,” said Flora, a radio host who had received several high-profile endorsements in the race.

Boebert’s eastward move came after she barely retained her seat in 2022 in the state’s Third Congressional District, where voters, while Republican leaning, had grown weary of her negative headlines and tight alignment with Trump.

In Colorado’s eastern Fourth District—the most conservative in a state that has become progressively bluer in recent cycles—Boebert initially faced skepticism. She endured accusations of carpetbagging, and some voters were turned off by an incident in which she was removed from a Denver theater, with video footage showing her vaping and groping her date during the musical “Beetlejuice.” But she had widespread star power in a crowded field of lesser-known candidates.

In March, retiring Rep. Ken Buck announced that he would resign his seat immediately, forcing a special election for the last months of his term. The move was widely seen as the best opportunity for Boebert detractors to spur momentum for someone else, as the congresswoman opted not to participate in the special election.

Rather than elevating one of Boebert’s opponents, however, Republicans opted to nominate Greg Lopez, a former mayor of Parker, Colo., who vowed to hold the seat for only six months until January 2025 and not seek the nomination for the general election. The special election was also decided in his favor Tuesday.

Field remained splintered

Polling analysis in February by research firm Kaplan Strategies found that Boebert could lose if her opposition coalesced around a single challenger. This month, with six candidates still in the race, the firm found 40% of likely voters in the primary supported Boebert and her opponents remained largely unknown, with none netting more than 5% support.

The firm also found that Boebert had significantly improved her favorability rating, to 47% from 38% among Republican voters.

Drew Sexton, a campaign spokesman for the congresswoman, credited her work on the ground with helping answer voter concerns. “This was not necessarily a given,” he said. “People have seen she’s put in the work.”

Carolyn Smith, a retired church volunteer, said the sheer persistence of Boebert’s campaign materials and a generally positive view of her politics, led her to overlook the congresswoman’s controversies and cast a vote for her.

“Some things you have to let slide,” Smith said.

Write to Elizabeth Findell at [email protected]