Almost half of voters in Lauren Boebert’s new district don’t want a carpetbagger

‘Unless the party coalescences around one person, she will win,’ pollster says as survey sees Boebert far ahead of pack

Almost half – 46 per cent – of voters in Rep Lauren Boebert’s new district don’t want to vote for a carpetbagger – a candidate with no local connections, something her opponents are capitalising on.

Ms Boebert switched up her district after she appeared to possibly be heading to a loss in the area of the state she currently represents.

The pro-Trump Republican revealed late last year that she would be running for re-election in Colorado’s fourth congressional district – she currently represents the third, an office she has held since 2021.

She said that it was the “right decision for those who support our conservative movement” but it has been perceived by some as an attempt to avoid a loss.

She was being challenged in the Republican primary by Jeff Hurd and the Democrat she beat in 2022 by only 546 votes – Adam Frisch – and who looks set to be the nominee for the Democrats in the district yet again.

A Kaplan Strategies poll found that 46 per cent of voters in the fourth district don’t want a candidate who just moved there. Twenty-two per cent said they would support such a candidate, while 33 per cent were not sure.

Rep Ken Buck, who currently represents the fourth district, announced his retirement citing the election denialism in his party.

But even with the scepticism against carpetbaggers such as Ms Boebert, she may still win the seat. The Kaplan strategies poll found that she has the backing of 32 per cent of those taking part in the survey, while her challengers were all in the single digits.

Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert shocked voters when she switched from Colorado’s Third congressional district to the Fourth, on the other side of the state; she is pictured outside of her now-closed restaurant , bottom right, in Rifle, about 180 miles west of Denver (Getty/Sheila Flynn)

Colorado State Representative Mike Lynch came in second with seven per cent.

The president of Kaplan Strategies, Doug Kaplan, told Newsweek that “unless the party coalescences around one person, she will win”.

But even as she’s in the lead, 45 per cent said she doesn’t has good character and judgment, and only 38 per cent hold a favourable view of her while more than 40 per cent do not.

“I have not seen [a] poll where the leading candidate has such unfavorables,” Mr Kaplan told Newsweek. Almost half of the voters in the district have yet to make up their minds.

“It’s less of a Maga district,” the pollster said.

This comes as Ms Boebert was recently found to be only the fifth most popular candidate in a straw poll following a debate in Fort Lupton, Newsweek noted. Fort Lupton is located in the eighth district.

The straw poll on 25 January found that Ms Boebert only got 12 votes out of 100 Republican voters who took part. Former state Senator Jerry Sonnenberg came in first with 22 votes.

Mr Sonnenberg received the backing of three former Republican Colorado senators who also used to represent the fourth district.

“He will be a passionate and dedicated warrior for our nation and our shared conservative values,” former Republican Sen Cory Gardner said in a statement, according to Newsweek.

“Each of them knows the fourth district and understands the kind of principled leadership our community needs in Congress,” Mr Sonnenberg said.

But Ms Boebert has the support of House Speaker Mike Johnson, who said she was a “relentless force for conservative governance”.

The Wall Street Journal outlined the negative feelings last week of a number of possible Republican voters.

Judy Scofield, a retired university staffer, said she doesn’t “appreciate, as a Christian, people saying they’re Christian to get your vote and then turning out to be a lowlife”.

“And now I just kind of think of her as a lowlife,” she added.

In December, Ms Boebert was removed from a theatre in Denver after loud and disruptive behaviour, including reportedly vaping and getting intimate with her date. She later apologized, noting the struggle of her divorce.