Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has condemned conservative firebrand Lauren Boebert for switching congressional districts ahead of the 2024 elections, saying she is just “trying to hold on to power.”
“She knows she has failed the citizens of her district. She has failed to convince Coloradans on the Western Slope on issues that matter to them,” Griswold told MSNBC. “She has failed to deliver legislative results. There is scandal after scandal after scandal.”
“I really think she's trying to hold on to power,” she added.
Boebert, a 37-year-old grandmother and mother of four sons, made the move after cruising to re-election in 2022 with just 546 votes. She said she had made the decision to continue her fight against “the socialists and communists who are taking over our country.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert announced she would switch congressional districts after cruising to reelection in 2022 by just 546 votes
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold blasted Boebert for switching congressional districts ahead of the 2024 elections
She said “dark money” was directed at her personally “to steal this seat.” And she said it was a fresh start after her divorce and “personal mistakes.”
But Griswold said Boebert's move to a more conservative seat doesn't necessarily mean she will be back in Congress.
“The bigger picture is that MAGA Republicans are vulnerable to defeat in swing districts and conservative districts,” she said.
“I think Americans generally don't like extremism,” she noted. “They like people who say they're going to get things done and they're going to do it.”
Boebert 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, stating, ” 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.
Announcing her district change in a Facebook video published Wednesday, Boebert said, “I did not come to this decision easily.
Boebert is pictured with Donald Trump in February 2022. She remains a staunch supporter of the former president
“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 said the Hollywood elites, Aspen moneymen and George Soros who tried to stop her could “start pounding sand.”
The decision significantly increases her re-election chances.
The 3rd District leans 9 percentage points in favor of Republicans, The Colorado sun reported — while the 4th District leans 27 points toward the Republican Party, according to a nonpartisan analysis of election results from 2016 to 2020 by Colorado Legislature staffers.
She is struggling to raise funds for her re-election bid for the Third District, the newspaper reported, and Republican donors in western Colorado have lost enthusiasm for her fervent pro-Trump politics.
Ryan Reynolds and Barbra Streisand are among the stars who tried to dethrone her by donating to her Democratic rival's campaign.
The A-Listers are 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.
Boebert, who appeared in Congress in October, is in danger of losing her 2024 re-election campaign
Records show that Reynolds donated $1,500 to Frisch's campaign, Henley donated $6,600, Streisand donated $1,000, 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 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 Wednesday she would move her family to the 4th District even though she doesn't have to do so to qualify.
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
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 bares her teeth in the theater lobby after being ejected and also gives the finger to the staff
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.
The 4th District is currently represented by Ken Buck, but Buck announced in November that he would not run for re-election in 2024.
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; and State Rep. Richard Holtorf.