Lauren Boebert's Constituents Speak Out After She Abandons Them

Residents of Colorado's third congressional district have spoken out following the announcement by Lauren Boebert, their current House representative, that she won't be defending her seat in November 2024 and will instead stand in the state's more conservative-leaning fourth congressional district.

Boebert made the announcement in a video posted to her social media accounts on Wednesday, with the Republican saying it would be a "fresh start" after a "pretty difficult year for me and my family." Writing on Facebook she added: "I am going to do everything in my power to represent the 3rd District well for the remainder of this term as I work to earn the trust of grassroots conservative voters in the 4th District to represent them in 2025."

In November 2022 Boebert only narrowly held on to Colorado's third congressional district by around 500 votes, defeating Democratic candidate Adam Frisch, who has announced his intention to run again in 2024. Boebert was also facing a primary challenge from Republican lawyer Jeff Hurd.

Boebert's standing in the district was damaged by an incident in September when the congresswoman and a male partner were asked to leave a performance of musical Beetlejuice in Denver after taking unauthorized photos and vaping. Surveillance footage later emerged that appeared to show Boebert and her companion groping each other during the performance, after which the congresswoman issued an apology for her behavior.

Boebert's announcement sparked a mixed reaction from followers of the official "Lauren Boebert for Congress" Facebook page, with some saying they would miss the conservative firebrand, while others accused her of abandoning her district.

Fran Justman, a local resident, commented: "Good luck Lauren! Thank you for always standing by your conservative values! We will miss you in Western Colorado!"

A similar sentiment was expressed by Richard Hathorne, who wrote: "Lauren, Good luck going forward in your political and private life. You will be missed here in CO. 3rd. It has been an honor and a privilege to work with you on your campaigns. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to conservative values. CO. 4 will be lucky to have you."

Steve Pender commented: "You're a gem, Lauren, one of the few good guys fighting for our country."

However, other Facebook users were less complimentary, with Mandie Mercer replying: "Thank goodness! Now we can get some real representation in the 3rd District. You were useless."

Matthew Thomas commented: "This is pathetic. If you can't win in your own district, why make another district suffer? Trying to leech off of taxpayers because you can't do anything else."

Jazmine James, another user, added: "It's sad that you are so hungry for power you will run for a seat to represent a community you know nothing about."

Newsweek has reached out to Representative Boebert for comment by email.

In a statement provided to Newsweek, Frisch said Boebert's decision to switch district was made in response to the strength of his campaign.

The Democrat said: "Boebert is running scared from CD-3 because she knows she can't match our campaign's ability to connect with voters and the hard work we have put in to provide them with a common sense voice in Congress, including driving over 45,000 miles and holding hundreds of public meetings in every corner of this great district.

"Even before the Beetlejuice debacle that embarrassed her constituents, our campaign was polling ahead of Boebert because voters saw that we were showing up in their communities and appreciated the hard work, authenticity, sincerity, and independence that this campaign embodies."

Speaking to Newsweek in November, Frisch claimed Boebert was part of an "angertainment" industry and had been "ineffectual" at actually getting legislation passed into law.

He said: "One of the big themes is she's [Boebert] making all these headlines and she's become a national figure that has zero to do with a single legislative achievement that she has. It's all about her angertainment aspect of her time in D.C. and that's why there's such an opening for someone.

"People are just exhausted and they feel left out by a lot of the conversations that are happening on Twitter [now X] and cable news networks and, I would argue, on the extremes of both sides."

Update 12/29/23, 2:28 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with comment from Adam Frisch.