Representative Lauren Boebert last week received more reelection bad news from another straw poll in her home state of Colorado, despite her recent endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Boebert, a Colorado Republican known for her outspoken support of Trump, has represented the state's 3rd District since 2021. She is currently seeking reelection to the U.S. House in the 4th District, however, having come within only hundreds of votes of losing her seat to Democrat Adam Frisch in the 2022 midterm elections. The 4th District is seen by many as a more solidly red seat, with whoever secures the GOP nomination almost assured of a general election win.
The congresswoman's move has not entirely alleviated her reelection concerns, however, with Republican voters frequently denouncing her and calling the district swap opportunistic. Many have also taken issue with her mounting personal scandals, most prominently the incident in which she was kicked out of a Denver theater for inappropriate behavior with a date, for which she has apologized. During a GOP candidate debate earlier in the race, an informal straw poll of attendees put Boebert in fifth place among nine candidates.
Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, is seen at a June 23, 2021, press conference in Washington, D.C. Boebert came in third in an informal straw poll for his district's GOP nomination, only a day... Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, is seen at a June 23, 2021, press conference in Washington, D.C. Boebert came in third in an informal straw poll for his district's GOP nomination, only a day after securing an endorsement from Donald Trump. More Win McNamee/Getty Images
Another straw poll was conducted on March 3, only a day after Boebert was endorsed in her race by Trump, at a debate in Holyoke, Colorado. Once again, she struggled against the competition, placing third behind former state senator and Logan County Commissioner Jerry Sonnenberg, and veteran state lawmaker Ted Harvey. The poll's sample size was around 180 debate attendees, which could be considered too low to be representative of broader trends.
"I voted for Donald Trump in 2016, 2020, and will vote for him again in 2024. I hope he wins," Sonnenberg told the Journal-Advocate about Boebert's endorsement from Trump. "But, respectfully, the only endorsement I care about in this race will come from the voters of this district, who I've served honorably for two decades. They're going to make up their own minds and I am confident I'll earn their endorsement over someone who just moved to our district so she could stay in Washington, D.C."
Newsweek reached out to Boebert's office via email for comment on Saturday morning. Any responses received will be added to this story in a later update.
The polling aggregator site FiveThirtyEight features only one poll for the 4th District GOP race, with Boebert scoring a 25-point lead over her nearest competitor, state Representative Mike Lynch. The polling company behind the results, Kaplan Strategies, suggested that Boebert's advantage could fade as voters coalesce around one rival candidate further along in the race. The Colorado congressional primary will take place on June 25.