OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Rep. Lauren Boebert barely won her reelection race in November after a recount that took weeks to complete, and it looks as though she’ll have a tough time again next year.
After the Democrat-controlled state legislature redrew congressional districts following the 2020 Census, her district became far less red and is now considered a “toss-up” by the Cook Political Report. Previously the political analysis firm had her district at “lean Republican.”
There is also a fundraising aspect to the change.
“Cook Political Report editor David Wasserman said the change in the rating comes after recent campaign finance disclosures revealed Boebert’s challenger raised more than three times what Boebert raised in the second quarter,” The Hill reported on Friday.
Boebert, known for her strong conservative views, is set to engage in a high-stakes rematch with former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch, a Democrat, in the upcoming election. In the previous 2022 race, Boebert narrowly defeated Frisch by a mere 546 votes, leading to an automatic recount. However, before the recount was finalized, Frisch conceded the election to Boebert.
“In the latest second quarter campaign filings, covering the months of April through June, Frisch raised an impressive $2.6 million, which is more than three times Boebert’s roughly $818,000,” The Hill noted.
The Democrat’s campaign announced earlier this month that second-quarter fundraising numbers broke a record “for the largest quarterly fundraising for a U.S. House challenger in the year before an election, excluding special elections and self-funded campaigns.”
Frisch outraised the GOP lawmaker in the first quarter as well, bringing in $ 1.7 million compared to her $764,000 haul, according to campaign finance disclosures.
In the first quarter, too, Frisch outraised Boebert. He raised $1.7 million, according to his finance disclosure, and Boebert raised about $764,000.
Wasserman pointed out that the change in the district’s rating is due to Boebert’s lack of evident efforts to moderate her stances. Frisch, meanwhile, claims he is a moderate alternative to the Trump-aligned Boebert.
“Not only has Boebert avoided taking any steps to moderate her image since coming within 546 votes of losing to former Aspen Councilman Adam Frisch in 2022, Frisch outraised her by a massive $2.6 million to $810,000 in the second quarter thanks to an avalanche of small-dollar donations,” Wasserman wrote in his analysis.
He added that the Republican’s recent effort to block the annual defense reauthorization bill over ‘woke’ social initiatives undertaken by the Pentagon most likely gave Frisch an advantage.
“Wasserman noted, however, that despite his strong fundraising figures, Frisch still has a difficult battle ahead, as national Republican groups will no longer give Frisch ‘a free pass’ and instead, ‘likely to invest heavily to redefine the self-styled moderate as a limousine liberal out of step with the Western Slope,'” The Hill reported.
Wasserman also emphasized that the outcome of the 2024 race is likely to hinge on the 80,000 voters who abstained from voting in the 2022 midterms. These voters tend to lean independent and could play a significant role because they “may be more open to Donald Trump than those who showed up in the midterms.”
The Hill added:
The Cook Political Report analysis moved four other races along with Boebert’s this week. Rep. Josh Harder’s (D-Calif.) district moved from “solid Democrat” to “likely Democrat,” and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez’s (D-Texas) district moved from “likely Democrat” to “lean Democrat.”
Rep. Ken Calvert’s (R-Calif.) district moved from “lean Republican” to “toss up,” and Rep. Greg Landsman’s (D-Ohio) district moved from “toss up” to “lean Democrat.”
As for Boebert, she most recently made headlines when she came up with a plan to catch the person who brought cocaine into the Biden White House earlier this month.
After the Secret Service said that they might never find the person responsible for bringing the drugs into the White House, Boebert said that there was a simple way to determine who did it.
“So let me get this straight, the White House is refusing to say whether the cocaine culprit will be arrested? Well, I think we should drug test EVERYONE, including Joe Biden, until we know who smuggled illegal drugs into the White House,” she said on Twitter.
