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Boebert to leave CD3, seek reelection in CD4 on Colorado’s Eastern Plains
Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a controversial and divisive figure on Colorado’s Western Slope, announced on Wednesday she will be pulling out of the 3rd Congressional District to seek re-election in the 4th Congressional District on the state’s Eastern Plains.
“I wanted to let you, my constituents and supporters, hear directly from me about my plans for the 2024 election cycle and the importance of maintaining a conservative voice for Colorado in Congress as well as keeping our Republican House majority,” Boebert announced on Facebook .
“I cannot put into words how grateful I am for everyone who has steadfastly stood alongside me over the past year and beyond. I am going to do everything in my power to represent the 3rd District well for the remainder of this term as I work to earn the trust of grassroots conservative voters in the 4th District to represent them in 2025.”
The geographically vast 3rd Congressional District stretches from Pueblo on the state’s southern Front Range to Grand Junction near the Utah border on the state’s Western Slope. The district leans 9 points Republican, and includes the southwestern corner of Eagle County.
CD4 is a safe, 27-point Republican district comprising the eastern third of Colorado and the conservative suburbs of Denver. Members of Congress are not legally required to live in the district they are seeking to represent, but it’s considered politically difficult not to live in that district. Former Democratic Colorado state Sen. Kerry Donovan of Vail opted not to run against Boebert for CD3 when redistricting put her outside of the district into CD2, which is represented by Democrat Joe Neguse of Lafayette.
Boebert currently lives in Silt on the Western Slope, and used to own a gun-themed restaurant in Rifle. The former restaurateur shocked the Colorado political establishment by upsetting six-term Republican Scott Tipton in the 2020 GOP primary, went on to beat Diane Mitsch Bush of Steamboat Springs by 6 points in the general election, and, in 2022, won reelection by a mere 546 votes over Democrat Adam Frisch of Aspen.
“We have one of the greatest name ID, fundraising, and district-wide relationship advantages for any challenger in the country,” Frisch said in an email statement late Wednesday. “From Day 1 of this race, I have been squarely focused on defending rural Colorado’s way of life, and offering common sense solutions to the problems facing the families of Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. My focus will remain the same, and I look forward to bringing these issues with me to Congress in 2024.”
Carbondale Republican Russ Andrews, who is seeking the GOP nomination in CD3, wished Boebert “a successful run in the 4th Congressional district. It is an open seat that we need to win for Coloradans, and to keep our majority in the House”.
Andrews then added: “In the 3rd Congressional District, it’s now a race between problem solver, political outsider, and engineer Russ Andrews, against hand-picked [Grand Junction lawyer] Jeff Hurd. This ‘Republican’, who has been backed by old guard political insiders, has also failed to sign the Colorado Republicans 3rd Congressional District Unity Pledge which was crafted by Andrews. Now more than ever it is important to unite behind a candidate who will represent our district’s priorities and values, not someone who will turn his back because his endorsers have guided him to do so.”
The Hurd campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
CD4 is currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, who has already announced he’s retiring from Congress after standing up to election deniers who refused to accept the results of the 2020 president election that saw Donald Trump forced out of the White House. Boebert is big backer of Trump’s presidency, and she voted not to certify the lawful, fully vetted election of President Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.
Democrat Ike McCorkie, seeking the nomination to run again in CD4, issued the following statement in an a fundraising email blast: “Since 2020 this campaign has been laying the groundwork to take back CO-04 and now it’s on us to rid Colorado of national disgrace Lauren Boebert once and for all.
“Boebert is beyond vulnerable, which is why she ditched her district, but tens of millions of dollars of GOP dark money will begin flooding into our district tomorrow a.m., and we need to start competing with her TONIGHT.”
“Lauren Boebert can run, but she can’t hide. The good people of Western and Southern Colorado didn’t wait for an election to beat Lauren Boebert — we scared her straight and chased her out of her own district,” Colorado Democratic Party Chair Shad Murib wrote in an emailed statement: “With this carpetbagging move, Lauren Boebert has shown herself to be everything she claims she isn’t: a typical swampy politician looking for a reason to call Washington D.C. home. She’s a loser in CD3, and she’ll be a loser in CD4 — Coloradans won’t buy her bullshit in 2024.”
Murib, married to Donovan, lives in Eagle County.
“Colorado Democrats launched The 546 Project, our unprecedented year-round campaign in Western and Southern Colorado, to make sure that rural Colorado is represented by someone committed to protecting our outdoor spaces, expanding health care, and treating people right – not hurting our farmers and ranchers with bad policies and foolish trade wars, or selling our public lands off to the highest bidders. We look forward to this fight,” Murib added.
David O. Williams
