Far-right firebrand Lauren Boebert faced off against eight Republican opponents in a debate Thursday night in the new Colorado district she hopes to represent in Congress.
After narrowly managing to win re-election in Colorado’s Third Congressional District against a Democrat in 2022, she is running this year in a much more conservative district, the Fourth. On Thursday night at the debate in Fort Lupton, Ms. Boebert appeared relaxed as she delivered fiery rhetoric and promoted her pro-Trump, far-right stance among similarly conservative colleagues.
“Everyone will talk like a Freedom Caucus member, but there is only one who governs as a Freedom Caucus member,” Ms. Boebert said in her opening statement, adding that she does not expect a “coronation” in her new district and that she looked forward to “earning your vote.”
But Ms. Boebert also faced constant criticism from rivals for switching districts – she had moved to the other side of the state to improve her chances after a strong primary opponent emerged in the Third District.
State Representative Mike Lynch suggested that Ms. Boebert was a “carpet-bagger” after she addressed a drunken-driving arrest that forced Mr. Lynch to resign as Republican minority leader in the state House on Wednesday.
The candidates largely avoided mentioning what brought Ms. Boebert to their district in the first place: an incident in September in which Ms. Boebert — then in the process of finalizing her divorce from her husband — was caught on a surveillance camera smoking and groping her Date at a performance of the musical “Beetlejuice”.
Ms Boebert said at the debate that she needed a “fresh start” after her divorce. “My boys need some freedom from what happened,” she added. “And this step is the right one for me and for her.”
At one point, candidates were asked to raise their hand if they were ever arrested. Six of the nine candidates raised their hands on stage to cheers and applause from the audience. Trent Leisy, a Marine veteran and business owner, praised Mr. Lynch and Ms. Boebert with his hands raised.
Ms. Boebert said in this segment that she had only been arrested once for failing to appear in court for careless driving, which she described in the debate as a “simple unpaid traffic violation.” But local news media reported at least two more arrests. In one incident in 2015, Ms. Boebert told the police officers who arrested her that she “had friends at Fox News” and that the arrest would make national headlines.
The candidates in the race – 11 in total – are vying to succeed Republican incumbent Ken Buck, who announced he would not seek re-election in November. Mr. Buck cited election denial — the widespread belief among many Republicans that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald J. Trump — as well as the refusal of many of his Republican colleagues to condemn the Jan. 1 election as the reason for his decision. 6. 2021, Attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.
In contrast, Ms. Boebert has vehemently promoted these false claims about the 2020 election. In Thursday’s debate, she was one of the few candidates on stage to raise her hand when asked whether the 2020 election was stolen from Mr. Trump.
Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District is significantly more conservative than the Third, and Ms. Boebert’s move is expected to make it easier for a less divisive Republican to win in her old district. An analysis by the Cook Political Report following Ms. Boebert’s redistricting found that her old seat would give way to Republicans in the November election.
And the winner of the primary in her new district will likely be in a good position to win a district where Mr. Buck received 60 percent of the vote in 2022. Ms. Boebert narrowly won re-election this year, overtaking her Democratic opponent Adam Frisch by about 500 votes.
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2024-01-26 04:27:51
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