DENVER (AP) — U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert will face voters in Colorado's GOP primary on Tuesday after being forced to flee her home. A tough re-election Upset on the way to run in Republican-leaning district Allegations of carpetbagging And still hurt by an embarrassing video.
Boebert, who planted her MAGA flag in the US House of Representatives in 2020, has garnered conservative influence across the country. But that spotlight also means Public scandalsShe decided to change districts after a video surfaced of her vaping and disrupting a Beetlejuice concert.
Boebert said she made the change to ensure another Republican could win her old district, which she nearly lost in 2022, and blamed outside groups for targeting her. But Boebert left a district that has already become a fundraising magnet for a potential Democratic candidate, who has raised millions of dollars that could help her win a district that has tilted Republican in recent years.
On Tuesday, for the first time since all of this happened, Colorado voters will have their say. Voters in his new district will weigh his candidacy against more traditional GOP rivals. They include former state Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, current state Representatives Mike Lynch and Richard Holtorf, and parental rights advocate Deborah Flora.
Whoever wins the Republican primary is expected to claim the seat in the heavily conservative 4th Congressional District, which covers a broad expanse of farmland, ghost towns and a conservative metropolitan area that make up Colorado's western plains. Its voters overwhelmingly supported former President Donald Trump in 2020.
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The seat had become vacant after former Republican Representative won the election. Ken Buck resigns from Congress. A Special elections Voting also takes place Tuesday to fill the remaining months of Buck’s term, where Republican candidate and former Mayor Greg Lopez is expected to defeat Democrats and third-party candidates.
Buck cited the divisive nature 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 primary for a U.S. House seat in Colorado Springs, about an hour's drive south of Denver.
Dave Williams, the Republican candidate in the 5th Congressional District race, is facing condemnation from his own people and calls for his resignation as state GOP chairman. Williams has been accused of using his position as chairman and state party resources to promote his own campaign.
The final straw for some fellow Republicans was a recent email that referred to those celebrating Gay Pride Month as “godless groomers.” The state party’s account on X also posted: “Burn all #Pride flags this June.”
Williams is up against Jeff Crank, a conservative commentator who shares a similar political platform as Williams but differs from him in style and temperament. Both are vying to fill the seat of Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, who has announced He will not seek re-election,
Voters will choose between a hardline MAGA follower in Williams, who has repeated Trump's lies about the 2020 election and attacked fellow Republicans who don't align, and Crank, who is steeped in an older, more pragmatic GOP tradition. Whichever candidate succeeds in the primary will be the favorite against the Democratic nominee in a Republican-friendly district.
Another race being closely watched by national party leaders is Colorado's 8th congressional district, newly drawn after redistricting in 2021 and hotly contested with the electorate roughly divided between the two major parties.
The district stretches north of Denver and is currently represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo, who won by less than 2,000 votes against the Republican candidate in 2022. Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans and former state Rep. Janak Joshi, a retired physician, are vying to challenge Caraveo.
Evans, a former police officer, is considered the frontrunner in the Republican primary. Whoever wins will likely receive heavy support from the National Republican Campaign Committee, which is intent on protecting the party's fragile House majority.
In the West, between the Rocky Mountains and the high desert plains, a half-dozen Republican candidates will try to replace Boebert as the Republican nominee in the 3rd Congressional District.
Whoever wins will face Adam Frisch, a businessman and Democratic candidate who lost to Boebert by just 546 votes in 2022. Frisch gained fame after nearly defeating Boebert in the conservative district. Frisch has now raised at least $13 million for his 2024 campaign.
Even in a Republican-dominated district, a well-financed Democrat could mount a challenge.
Republican candidates include lawyer Jeff Hurd and former Republican state Rep. Ron Hanks, whose differences are very similar to those of Cranks and Williams, respectively. Other Republican candidates include Stephen Varela, a former Democrat who has switched parties, businessman Lew Webb, and financial adviser Russ Andrews.
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This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Representative Caraveo's first name to Yadira, instead of Yadiro.
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Jesse Baden 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.