Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) on Wednesday revealed she will now run for reelection in the Centennial State’s fourth district as she blames “dark money” for trying to steal her seat.
“Personally, this announcement is a fresh start following a difficult year for me and my family. I will not allow dark money that is directed at destroying me to steal this seat. It’s not fair to the 3rd District and the conservatives there who have fought so hard for our victories, of which I’m incredibly grateful,” Boebert said in a video announcing her decision.
Boebert now hopes to succeed the retiring Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO).
The conservative Coloradan has faced a competitive race against Democrat Adam Frisch, a former Aspen City Council member.
During the 2022 congressional midterms, Boebert beat Frisch by only 546 votes in the GOP-leaning district.
Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams believes that Boebert running for the fourth district may jeopardize Republicans’ ability to hold the third district.
“She is clearly concerned about losing to Jeff Hurd or Adam Frisch and is doing whatever she can to keep her seat in Congress — while jeopardizing our ability to retain Congressional District 3,” he remarked, “as well as our slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. There were many Republicans counting on her in CD3, and they were let down today.”
The fourth district is considerably more conservative than the third district, as the Denver Post outlined:
The 4th District, which covers most of the state’s Eastern Plains, from the Wyoming border to the Oklahoma panhandle, is being vacated by Buck, who has held the mostly rural district since 2015. Several Republicans have already announced their intention to run in that district, where recently redrawn boundaries have taken in suburban Douglas County, south of Denver.
The 4th District is considerably more conservative than the 3rd, according to active voter registration lists filed with the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. While Republicans outnumber Democrats in Boebert’s current district by around 34,000 voters, that gap is closer to 100,000 voters in Buck’s district.
Dave Wasserman, an elections analyst for the Cook Political Report, said on Wednesday that Boebert running for the fourth district may help Republicans win the third district.
Wasserman said Boebert’s decision was positive for “Republicans’ chances of holding onto (the 3rd District), as Boebert was the main reason it was in so much jeopardy.” He now rates the race for the third district as “leans Republican.”
Boebert made headlines in September when she was kicked out of a Beetlejuice musical for causing a “disturbance:”
Boebert made headlines over the summer after she was caught on camera groping a date, vaping and taking selfies at a performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver, and then giving ushers the finger when she was asked to leave and declaring: ‘Do you know who I am?’ She also sparked controversy by heckling Joe Biden in his 2022 State of the Union address, and caused anger by making an Islamophobic joke about Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
Watch: Lauren Boebert Escorted Out of Theatre After Causing “Disturbance”
Denver Arts & Venues via Storyful
Frisch has received the support of many A-list celebrities, including Ryan Reynolds and Barbara Streisand, the Daily Mail noted:
Ryan Reynolds and Barbra Streisand are among stars who were trying to unseat her by donating to her Democrat rival’s campaign.
The A-Listers have been joined by Eagles founder Don Henley, actor and director Rob Reiner, as well as Johnny Cash’s daughter Rosanne Cash in donating to Adam Frisch’s 2023 campaign.
The Colorado congresswoman said the fourth district “is hungry for an unapologetic defender of freedom with a proven track record of standing strong for conservative principles.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.