In 2022, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert barely eked out a victory over Democrat Adam Frisch in Colorado’s 3rd district by a few hundred votes. Following a tumultuous first term, Boebert had already drawn a primary challenger this year and Frisch is back in the running, raising a significant amount of campaign cash. Those conditions apparently led Boebert to make a hasty decision to pull up stakes and run for the seat being vacated by Ken Buck, who will retire at the end of this term. Is this a smart strategy or simply a different way to exit stage right? Buck’s seat has already drawn a number of contenders, so Boebart will be facing a crowded field there. (Associated Press)

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert announced Wednesday she is switching congressional districts, avoiding a likely rematch against a Democrat who has far outraised her and after an embarrassing moment of groping and vaping that shook even loyal supporters.

In a Facebook video Wednesday evening, Boebert announced she would enter the crowded Republican primary in retiring Rep. Ken Buck’s seat in the eastern side of the state, leaving the more competitive 3rd district seat she barely won last year and was in peril of losing next year as even some in her party have soured on her controversial demeanor.

Boebert called it “a fresh start,” acknowledging the rough year following a divorce with her husband and video of her misbehaving with a date at a performance of the musical “Beetlejuice” in Denver.

Colorado’s 4th district is considerably less competitive than the 3rd. Ken Buck won the seat four times garnering at least 60% of the vote in each general election race. (Trump carried the 4th district by 20 points in 2020.) That means that Boebert will have one less thing to worry about and she should really only need to win the primary. But there are already multiple candidates who are up and running for Buck’s seat.

After winning her seat initially, Boebert rose to fame quickly (or infamy, if you prefer) because of her heavily conservative activism and frequent battles with members of the Squad. More recently, she drew criticism after a video emerged of her vaping and getting frisky with her date at a theater in Denver. That seemed rather unfair to me. We obviously expect a certain amount of decorum from our elected officials, but she was on her own time. She is divorced, so there was no question of adultery involved. Vaping isn’t illegal and making out with your date isn’t all that unusual. She apologized for the incident in any event.

The district switch comes with some less-than-ideal political optics, however. It portrays weakness to the voters of the 3rd district and a lack of confidence that her policies and performance were strong enough to earn her another term of her own. As for the 4th district, primary voters there may be confused as to where her loyalties are based. Wasn’t she a representative of the other side of the state? But she’s now supposed to be one of us?

Holding a congressional seat will no doubt give Boebert greater name recognition than most of her competitors and may even give her a boost in fundraising. But she won’t technically have the power of incumbency next November because Buck’s seat will be vacant. It’s not difficult to picture this being a close, competitive primary race followed by a relatively smooth path to victory in the general election, no matter who winds up winning the nomination. If that doesn’t wind up being Lauren Boebert, I’ll confess that I’ll probably miss her when she returns to the private sector. Her antics have frequently been entertaining and the way she is consistently able to cause the far left to set their hair on fire always brought a smile to my face. Thank you for your service, congressman, no matter what the future holds.