Rage is mounting among a shocking amount of District 4 Colorado Republicans who say Rep. Lauren Boebert’s “naked power-seeking” campaign will drive Democrat voters out in droves, a new investigation shows.
The Independent Friday published an extensive analysis on Boebert’s chances of claiming victory in a crowded race where locals and officials from both parties accuse the MAGA firebrand of carpetbagging, abandoning her constituents and behaving very badly at Beetlejuice the musical.
“You might be shocked at how many people are not happy about it,” a local Republican official told the Independent. “This just naked power-seeking behavior to save the seat…doesn’t really sit well.”
The Independent spoke to Republicans in rural towns that favor guns over wifi, determined Democrats looking to mount a local defense, experts on state politics and a cowboy hat-wearing conservative who also hopes to claim the seat Rep. Ken Buck has left up for grabs.
Not everyone knew that the 37-year-old grandmother was kicked out of a musical in September for vaping and groping her date, or that cops were summoned to a Colorado restaurant over claims she’d punched her ex-husband in the face. A police investigation proved otherwise and her ex, Jayson Boebert, has since been arrested on assault charges.
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According to Catherine Thurston, who works for a local newspaper in the rural town of Limon, Boebert has a big problem.
“If you’re not going to spend time talking face-to-face with people out here," Thurston told the Independent, "you’re probably not going to get the vote.”
But Colorado State University political science professor Kyle Saunders notes those who don’t know about Boebert’s tabloid antics soon will.
“You can imagine the campaign ads that her opponents are going to run,” he says “It’s going to be dark, grainy footage of her in the [Beetlejuice] theater.”
And those who know Boebert already dislike her record, locals told the outlet.
“I won’t vote for her because of who she is and what she has done,” independent voter Randy Wallace reportedly said.
“She’s a deserter,” competitor State Rep. Richard Holtorf told the Independent. “She’s deserting her people out of political expediency.”
Holtorf says fellow Republicans are angry over Boebert’s perceived lack of respect for government, for her constituents and even for President Joe Biden.
“There’s certain very disruptive things she’s done that are unprofessional and should not be done,” he told the Independent. “The outcries during the State of the [Union] speech — you just don’t do that.”
Even Colorado Democratic Party officials expressed anger at Boebert’s decision to join the race, despite Republicans’ fears it will send voters their way.
“I think the most common phrase that we hear is that she’s a coward," chairperson Shad Murib told the Independent. "That she’s most interested in her social media accounts and not actually getting things done."
One person who appears to enjoy the prospect of Boebert in District 4 is Jerry Sonnenberg, a Logan County commissioner who has served in both his states’ house and senate and is running against her.
“I welcome her to the fourth district,” he said. “I look forward to representing her as her congressman, quite frankly.”
