Boebert faces first election Tuesday since switching districts and the vaping scandal

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert faces voters in Colorado’s GOP primary election Tuesday after she fled a tough reelection race to run in a more Republican-leaning district, harried along the way by accusations of carpetbagging and still bruised by an embarrassing video.

Boebert, who planted her MAGA flag in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020, has amassed conservative clout across the country. But that limelight has also meant public scandals. Her decision to switch districts came after video surfaced of her vaping and causing a disturbance with a date at a musical production of Beetlejuice.

Boebert said she made the switch to ensure another Republican could win her old district, which she nearly lost in 2022, and she blamed outside groups for targeting her. But Boebert left the district having already become a fundraising magnet for the likely Democratic candidate, who has pulled in millions that may help him flip a district that has leaned Republican in recent years.

On Tuesday, for the first time since all of that happened, Colorado voters will get their say. The ones in her new district will weigh her candidacy against more traditional GOP rivals. Those include former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg, current state Reps. Mike Lynch and Richard Holtorf and parental rights advocate Deborah Flora.