DENVER (AP) – Colorado’s 3rd District of Congress, a stretch of ski resorts, national forest, farms, coal towns and desert masses as large as Pennsylvania, has been breeding low-key politicians for years.
Voters shifted slightly to the right, rewarding valuable practical values and for years representatives for achievements that fall under the national radar, such as the Hermosa Creek Watershed Act, an award-winning achievement by the former Republican Rep. Scott Tipton.
Until now.
The district’s newest representative, Republican Lauren Boebert, is a shameless, social media-savvy loyalist of former President Donald Trump who, like her fellow first-term colleague GOP representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, is controversial with her incite far-right views. and challenging actions. But unlike Greene, Boebert does not come from an overwhelming GOP, safe district.
This makes Boebert a test case or even a slight biased advantage will inevitably empower the most extreme elements of a party. The question that strategists in Colorado and elsewhere in this divided country are asking is whether Boebert is a stroke of luck – or the future.
“Are we so locked up, so biased, that it overshadows everything, even in these nearby districts?” asked Floyd Ciruli, a Colorado veteran. “Bringing out such controversial forces and removing an incumbent was not dangerous, not even in a district like this.”
Boebert, 34, who owns a gun-themed restaurant in downtown Rifle, immediately started waving. In her first month in office, she filmed a video in which she pretends to carry a gun in violation of the anti-gun laws against the District of Columbia. and tweeted about the whereabouts of House President Nancy Pelosi on Jan. 6, which led to allegations – that she strongly denies – that she was helping Trump loyalists who attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Her first taste of politics was a reaction to polarization on the other side of the aisle. In 2019, former Texas Representative Beto O’Rourke, who was vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, vowed to ban assault weapons. He held an event in the suburb of Aurora, Denver, near the site of the 2012 massacre in Aurora.
Boebert drove four hours from her home in Rifle to confront O’Rourke over his statement that he “hell, yes” he takes AR-15s. “Hell, no, you’re not,” she said.
Cristy Fidura, 43, who, along with her husband, a former oilfield worker, owns a trucking business in the former steel city of Pueblo, never started politics – until she saw the confrontation. She immediately became one of Boebert’s first supporters.
“I can relate to her, just like President Trump. He’s not a politician and she’s not a politician, and it’s a business to run this country, ‘Fidura said. “I feel that so many people are convinced that the government has to make decisions for them, and I think it’s sad, it’s scary.”
Marla Reichert, the outgoing chair of the Pueblo County GOP, said voters in the district had long wanted someone in Washington to vote for them and hell, no, for the Democrats.
Tipton, a five-term official who upset Boebert in last year’s GOP election, voted the right way. People just felt that he was not fighting the Democrats there. “He was not on Fox News and pushed back,” Reichert said.
In an interview, Boebert said district voters are eager for disruption. “My voters are tired of the old rally we see regularly with politicians,” she said.
Boebert maintains his and the rest of the first quarter of legislators is the future, even in districts like her.
“This is the America First movement that you see nationally and definitely in my district,” she said.
Josh Penry, a veteran Republican strategist who represented the area in the state of Colorado, is skeptical that Boebert’s style will remain.
“There are a lot of restrictions on the land in Colorado, so she only won by 51%,” Penry said. “If the sis wears out, there are large groups of voters who will be completely ready to know that their congresswoman is trying to be part of the solution between the hits of the cable news program.”
Boebert defeated her Democratic opponent by 51% to 45% in November. More Republicans than Democrats are registered voters, although the largest bloc is not affiliated and the district gets pensioners and refugees from urban areas leaning to the left.
Democrats address potential challengers for 2022. Although the state has embraced Republican Party Boebert, some in the IDP are whispering about a possible primary challenge.
The biggest threat could be the redistribution. By 2022, a non-partisan commission will redesign the boundaries of Boebert’s district, which could become more democratic or more Republican with the inclusion of a few neighboring communities.
Boebert’s first bill as a congresswoman – who opposes Biden’s masked mandate on federal property and withholds funds to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization – is not going anywhere. But her decision on Biden’s disruption to oil and gas drilling in federal states, which make up 55% of the district, is being accepted by industry – dependent voters.
Republicans have praise and warnings for the congresswoman.
Scott McInnis, a former six-term Republican congressman from the district, said high-stakes partisan warfare was not getting any results for voters in the region. “You need to have good communication with local communities so that you can quickly meet the needs of the federal government, whether a cattle permit or a ski permit,” he said.
Janeta Rowland, a Mesa County commissioner who advised Boebert on her campaign, said Boebert should continue to fight with the Biden government’s efforts to suspend drilling in federal lands. She praised Boebert, but said the new congresswoman should work with the Biden administration when she can – and oppose it when she should.
“Our residents are sick of the ongoing attacks on both sides,” Rowland said. ‘Bid it won. He is our president. Let’s go on. ”