Anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) scored an “embarrassing” fifth finish in a recent straw poll ranking the eight Republicans running in her new congressional district. While the poll was unscientific, her unpopularity in it suggests that “she’s finished,” one Republican group said.
Boebert, who switched congressional districts late last December when it became clear that she was at risk of losing within her home district, only received 12 out of the 117 votes cast in the straw poll, Colorado Politics reported. The poll occurred shortly after a debate in which an opponent called her a “carpetbagger” to her face.
The poll, which occurred last Thursday, was won by Logan County Commissioner Jerry Sonnenberg, who received 22 votes. Former House Minority Leader Mike Lynch got second with 20 votes, Deborah Flora got third with 18 votes, and state House Minority Whip Richard Holtorf came in fourth with 17 votes.
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Boebert barely won fifth place with 12 votes, barely beating former congressional nominee Peter Yu by just one vote. Three other candidates — former state Sen. Ted Harvey, Weld County Council member Trent Leisy, and former congressional staffer Chris Phelen — all got single-digit votes.
The Independent called Boebert’s loss “embarrassing,” and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) wrote on X, “Before I go to bed, I thought it would only be fitting to send ‘thoughts & prayers’ to my colleague, Lauren Boebert…. Now how many of y’all think BoBo gonna try to convince us that polls don’t matter… of course unless they are trash for Biden & great for Trump!”
Republicans Against Trump wrote on X, “She received just 10% of the vote from the Republicans who participated in the survey at the debate. She’s finished.”
Lynch, the straw poll’s second-place winner, had previously criticized Boebert’s switch of districts, stating, “I think it’s an unfortunate turn of the field, to be honest with you, because that distraction [of Boebert’s political theatre] really takes away from the issues we should be focusing on. Obviously, she’s got more money and more name recognition, but that is my job to present a better candidate than her. And I don’t look at it as much different from any other race.”
During the Thursday debate, Lynch called Boebert a “carpetbagger,” a term that is sometimes applied to politicians who try to profit off of an area that they have no real connection with.
State Rep. Holtorf, who finished third in the straw poll, asked, “Does she think we’re that stupid? Does she think we’re going to be fooled by this trickery?… Seat shopping isn’t something voters look kindly on.”