Maga firebrand Lauren Boebert has blamed music legend Barbra Streisand and X-Men actor Ryan Reynolds for her decision to switch congressional districts.
The Colorado Republican faced a tough reelection fight for the state's third congressional district after a series of high-profile scandals.
Opponents were sharpening their knives after she was thrown out of a Beetlejuice performance in Denver, disrupted the State of the Union address and made Islamophobic jokes about her fellow representatives.
But she was also outraised three to one by Democratic rival Adam Frisch, whose $7.7 million war chest has been swelled by $1,500 from Streisand and $1,500 from Reynolds.
“If Barbra Streisand comes in and donates to the Democrat, if Ryan Reynolds comes in and donates to the Democrat, it shows that Hollywood is trying to worm its way into Congress,” she told Steve Bannon's War Room podcast.
Lauren Boebert announced last month that she will not run for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District — which she narrowly won in 2022 — and will instead switch to Colorado's 4th Congressional District.
Boebert lashed out at Barbra Streisand and Ryan Reynolds for donating a combined $3,000 to her opponent's $7.7 million campaign fund
The Colorado congressman has been one of Donald Trump's fiercest defenders
“We need to take out the Hollywood elites who are trying to buy my current neighborhood,” she continued.
“Almost $10 million went into this district to buy this seat.
“Colorado's Third District is not for sale.”
The 37-year-old grandmother defeated Frisch in 2022 by a razor-thin 546 votes, but said she “did not come to this decision easily” as she announced her move.
“A lot of prayer, a lot of difficult conversations, and a lot of perspective have convinced me that this is the best way I can continue to fight for Colorado, for the conservative movement, and for my children's future,” she explained.
She is now seeking her party's nomination in the distant Fourth District, which is rated by analysts as the state's most conservative and where current Rep. Ken Buck is retiring.
But that did not go down well with Republicans who were already in the race.
“Seat shopping is not something voters look kindly on,” said state Rep. Richard Holtorf.
“If you can't win at home, you can't win here.”
Boebert and her date, Quinn Gallagher, sparked outrage in September after they were caught on camera fondling each other during a Beetlejuice performance in Denver and were kicked out of the theater.
Boebert was seen baring her teeth in the theater lobby after being ejected and also gave the finger to the staff
Boebert's divorce from Jason, 36, her husband of 18 years and father of her four children, was finalized in October following the couple's shocking split in May
The mother of four made headlines last summer after she was caught on camera groping a date, vaping and taking selfies during a performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver, then giving the ushers the finger when she was asked to leave and declared, “Do you know who I am?”
She also sparked controversy by heckling Joe Biden in his 2022 State of the Union address, and sparked anger by making an Islamophobic joke about Minnesota's Ilhan Omar.
Streisand and Reynolds aren't the only A-listers backing Frisch for Boebert's current seat, with Eagles founder Don Henley, actor and director Rob Reiner, and Johnny Cash's daughter Rosanne Cash donating to his 2023 campaign.
Henley donated $6,600, Reiner donated $3,300 and Cash donated $550.
Boebert's decision is good news for the Republican Party, which feared it would lose.
It doesn't mean the Third District will vote Democratic — the district hasn't sent a Democrat to Congress since 2008 — but it does mean a more moderate Republican could take the seat.
Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd, who is backed by several major Republicans and the conservative editorial board of The Colorado Springs Gazette, challenged Boebert for her seat.
Carbondale investor Russ Andrews and Delta County entrepreneur Curtis McCrackin are also in the race.
Boebert said last week she would move her family to the 4th District even though she doesn't have to do so to qualify.
She currently lives in Garfield County, near the town of Silt – hundreds of miles from the borders of the 4th District.
The 4th District covers the entire eastern border of Colorado and all of the country east of Denver, from Oklahoma in the south to Nebraska in the north, and east to Kansas.
The 3rd District, on the other hand, stretched across the state's western border and included the wealthy mountain towns of Aspen and Telluride.
Boebert, who appeared in Congress in October, is in danger of losing her 2024 re-election campaign
Buck, 64, said he considers himself a conservative, like Ronald Reagan, and values individual liberty and economic freedom.
He said he resigned partly out of dismay over his colleagues' refusal to accept the 2020 election results, and partly because Congress was no longer able to get anything done.
Boebert is far from the only Republican looking to replace Buck, but her $1.4 million war chest will certainly help her campaign.
She faces competition from conservative talk show host Deborah Flora; former state senators Jerry Sonnenberg and Ted Harvey; as well as Holtorf.