A Far-Right Incumbent’s Exit Revenge

Colorado Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is a far-right conspiracy theorist and bigot whose politics include election denialism, more than a passing affection for QAnon and extreme anti-LGBTQ positions. That doesn’t put her too far outside the mainstream of her party. But her vocal opposition to GOP leadership and refusal to get in line has Republicans out for blood. 

On March 12, Boebert got a wake-up call on what that means when Rep. Ken Buck, the Republican from Colorado’s 4th District, announced he’d be stepping down sooner than expected, triggering a special election.  

The plan had been — and remains — for Boebert to run for Buck’s seat in the general election come November. It’s a savvy plan; the 4th is a more conservative district than the 3rd, where she currently serves, and where she was almost defeated in 2022, hanging on to beat Democrat Adam Frisch by a mere 554 votes. 

But a sooner Buck retirement complicates that decision by prompting a special election this summer to fill out the rest of the term and puts Boebert in a bind. Making matters worse for the congresswoman, the special election is set for the same day as the primary. Because both elections are on June 25, Boebert would effectively be asking voters to vote for one candidate to serve out the term, but not in the primary. That vote-split ask is going to be a heavy lift.

Boebert, running for her third term in Congress at only 37, finds herself in a tough situation. She’s weathered public personal issues over the past year: a difficult divorce that she tied to a public and much criticized handsy incident at a theater production of “Beetlejuice,” where she was also caught vaping on camera, after denying she was disruptive. One of the former couple’s sons has also been arrested on multiple felony and misdemeanor charges. On top of it all, political opponents like Dick Wadhams, former Colorado Republican Party chair, are attacking her as a carpetbagger in the 4th. Boebert said on Twitter that the set of events indicates Buck’s retirement isn’t an accident. 

“Ken Buck’s announcement yesterday was a gift to the Uniparty. The establishment concocted a swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election I’m winning by 25 points,” Boebert said. “Forcing an unnecessary Special Election on the same day as the Primary Election will confuse voters.” 

She spun that accusation into a request for donations, writing, “Don’t let the uniparty rig this race. It’s MAGA vs the Establishment.”

Buck objects to the idea he retired to damage Boebert. But as the Colorado Sun’s Mike Littwin wrote, that justification is a little hard to swallow given the respective roles of the two caucus members. Buck’s opposition to the impeachment efforts of the GOP-controlled House branded him a traitor; and rejecting Trump’s election denialism left him nowhere to go. But that isn’t enough in today’s GOP.  It’s little wonder why he retired in the first place; moving it up to deny Boebert a clear field is the deliciously petty cherry on top. 

To be clear, Buck’s no moderate. On issue after issue, the congressman takes positions well to the right of the political mainstream. He’s against abortion, opposes gay marriage and trans rights, rejects gun control measures and doesn’t believe in anthropogenic climate change. By most measures, he’s a far-right ideologue with little to distinguish him politically from Boebert. 

Moderate Republicans — to the extent that description means anything anymore — may have their problems with Boebert, but she arguably represents the GOP base better than they do. Boebert’s rejection of the results of the 2020 presidential election, her unwavering support of Trump, her burn-it-all-down governing style under a Democrat president — all of it is perfectly in sync with today’s Republican mainstream. 

This puts conservatives desperate for a more controllable version of the party in a bind. When Boebert and her fellow far-right GOP reps. — Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Marjorie Taylor-Greene (Ga.), and Paul Gosar (Ariz.) — are keyed into the roiling anger and extremism of the base, how do you take them down? The answer is not obvious. It took 18 years to get rid of Steve King, whose open white nationalism made him far more in touch with the average GOP voter than the so-called “moderates” in a 2020 primary. 

When you’re faced with few options, sometimes you have to play dirty pool. That’s what Buck and the rest of the Colorado GOP are doing in trying to get rid of the extremist Boebert. Buck’s resignation, forcing the special election to replace him on the same day as the GOP primary, likely represents they’re best shot. 

Allies and enemies alike in Colorado say she still has a solid shot at surviving the challenge. “I think she’s probably running as good of a campaign as you can,” former Colorado chair Wadhams told ABC News. She’s raised nearly $3 million and has over $1.2 million on hand. Her high name recognition and reputation as a fierce opponent of President Joe Biden’s agenda will help her in a primary. Despite Boebert’s many problems, she shouldn’t be counted out.