Rep. Lauren Boebert wins race to represent Eastern Colorado

Updated at 11:10 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2024.

Republican Lauren Boebert will be going back to Congress, this time as the representative of the state’s 4th Congressional District.

“I am honored to represent you and to be your voice In Washington, D.C.,” she told the cheering crowd at her election watch party Tuesday night. “Your ballot that you returned was not just a piece of paper, it was a battle cry for American values.”

“Colorado’s 4th District will have a brand new representative, who isn’t going to turn their backs on them like their last representative,” she said, taking a swipe at former GOP Rep. Ken Buck, who stepped down early.

Boebert declared victory shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday, saying her opponent had called her to concede. At that point, she was ahead by about 10 points in the race.

If that margin doesn’t change significantly as more votes are counted, it’s a narrower victory than Buck enjoyed in his last race; he won by 25 points in 2022. The 4th district is Colorado’s most Republican congressional seat.

But Boebert said she would not change her style.

“There's nothing about my politics that I'm going to change. I'm going to continue to be an effective legislator,” she told the gathered press. “Maybe it would be great if the media would change their narrative on Lauren Boebert rather than pressuring me to change who I am. I am radically Lauren Bobert.”

The crowd of a couple of hundred cheered at that.

Republican Kelly Boden said she likes Boebert the way she is. “I liked her when she was (in her old district) before, so I was always going to vote for her. It didn’t matter.”

Boebert did offer an olive branch to those who did not vote for her.

“Let me prove to you exactly what I can do for you as your representative, by giving you a voice in Washington, D.C., by fighting for the things that impact your wallet…that impact your children, your health decisions.”

Boebert prevailed over Democrat Trisha Calvarese, who earned a lot of fundraising cash from Democrats eager to keep Boebert from returning to Congress. A first-time candidate, Calvarese was raised in Highlands Ranch and moved back to provide end-of-life care for her conservative Republican parents. It was her father that urged her to run for office.

Calvarese pushed her ties to the community while hitting Boebert on issues related to veterans’ care and protection of in vitro fertilization, but it was not enough.

Boebert was first elected to represent CO-03, which encompasses the Western Slope and Southern Colorado, in 2020. But her first term was marred by controversy, much of it her own doing, from heckling President Joe Biden at the State of the Union to insinuating a Muslim member of Congress was a terrorist. She barely won reelection to a second term, eking by with 546 votes.

Boebert focused more on the district in her second term and even sought earmarks, after deriding them during her first time, in an effort to bring results to the district. But she continued to make waves within the Republican caucus. She was one of more than a dozen holdouts when Kevin McCarthy sought to become House Speaker, demanding changes to how the chamber operates, from amendments to a one-person threshold for the motion to vacate. That motion was used to oust McCarthy and led to the House floor being paralyzed for three weeks, as Republicans struggled to find a replacement.

As she sought reelection for her third term in office, Boebert not only faced a redux of the 2022 race, except now with the Democrat challenger vastly outraising her but also a serious primary challenger in Jeff Hurd, who was backed by many local and Colorado elected officials.  On top of that, Boebert also had to deal with the fallout over her disruptive behavior at a live theater performance in Denver.

After former Rep. Buck said he would not seek reelection, Boebert said she’d seek reelection on the other side of the state and moved from Rifle to Windsor, a decision she said was related to her recent contentious, public divorce, as well as ensuring her political future.

With the backing of former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson and a campaign war chest amassed in CO-03, Boebert ran well ahead of the other Republican candidates in the very crowded primary field.

Boebert has been very active within the House Freedom Caucus and said she would want to continue to sit on the House Natural Resources and Oversight committees.