One of the most notorious Republicans in Congress faces a crowded primary election on Tuesday.
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is running against five other Republicans in Colorado’s 4th District.
It’s not her district — Boebert currently represents Colorado’s 3rd — but she’s making the switch rather than face a rematch against Adam Frisch, the Democratic challenger who came surprisingly close to beating her in 2022. Boebert said she’d run in the 4th District, which leans more Republican than her own, after former Rep. Ken Buck (R) announced his retirement.
In her first term in Congress, Boebert drew attention with a streak of inflammatory antics, such as vowing to tote a handgun around Washington, calling a Muslim colleague a terrorist and heckling President Joe Biden with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) during the 2022 State of the Union address. Frisch labeled Boebert a purveyor of “angertainment.”
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In her second term, Boebert clashed with Greene after the two introduced rival impeachment resolutions against Biden in June 2023. Greene told reporters Boebert “basically copied my articles,” which Boebert denied.
“I’m not in middle school,” Boebert told HuffPost at the time.
That evening, Greene called Boebert “a little bitch” during a confrontation on the House floor, a breach of decorum that contributed to Greene’s ouster from the right-wing House Freedom Caucus the following month.
Boebert committed her own breach of decorum months later when she was escorted out of a Denver theater in September after vaping and carrying on with a date during a performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical.
This year, Boebert has seemingly tried to distinguish herself from Greene. During a House Oversight Committee hearing that fell into chaos after Greene insulted a Democratic colleague’s “fake eyelashes,” Boebert tried to strike a more statesmanlike tone, apologizing to the American people on Greene’s behalf.
“It was embarrassing what was going on,” Boebert said the next day. “My apology was sincere because I felt shame that that was happening.”
Former President Donald Trump endorsed Boebert over her five Republican opponents earlier this year.
Boebert may have an advantage due to her name recognition and Trump endorsement, but political handicappers have said the bad attention she draws to herself, such as by getting kicked out of a touring Broadway performance, hurts her chances.
If Boebert wins, she’ll face the winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary. One of the candidates, Ike McCorkle, recently released an internal poll suggesting he’d beat Boebert in a hypothetical general election matchup.