Lauren Boebert Sees Huge Drop in Donations

Representative Lauren Boebert's fundraising from individual donors suffered a huge drop in the first few months of 2024 after she opted to move to a more conservative Congressional district, according to her campaign's latest Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing.

Boebert, a conservative Republican from Colorado, raised about $388,805 from individuals in the first quarter of 2024, according to the filing. While she outraised each of her Republican rivals ahead of the June 25 primary, she raised less than she did in each quarter of 2023, when she raised more than $2.7 million from individuals—not including PAC money.

During the first quarter of 2023, for instance, she raised about $562,988 from individuals. She had her strongest quarter of the 2024 election cycle from July through September of 2023, when she raised about $795,185 from individuals.

Meanwhile, her campaign expenses have increased. Her campaign spent more than she raised from individuals so far in 2024, with expenses totaling $761,255 during the first quarter of 2024; this also marks a rise from quarter 4 in 2023, when they totaled about $684,437.

She still had more than $1 million on hand by the end of March 2023, according to the filing.

Newsweek reached out to Boebert's campaign for comment via email.

Grant Davis Reeher, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, told Newsweek on Monday that whether Boebert should be worried could depend on how much effort she has put into fundraising, but that any drop in funding is something a candidate will be concerned about.

"If the same effort is producing less money, especially in comparison with other firebrand conservative Republicans, then it's possibly a concern. Changing districts to one further away from where she lives, even though she is in effect a national candidate, would also likely complicate her fundraising effort, and throw up some additional challenge," he said.

Reeher continued: "Even though she is the apparent frontrunner in the primary, she has to win that race too, and primary campaigns can be expensive. That has to be factored into the equation of what she's raising versus spending."

Kyle Saunders, a professor of political science at Colorado State University, told Newsweek that while it is not a positive sign for any candidate to raise less money, the primary, rather than the general election, is her main fight—and​ Trump's endorsement of Boebert may carry a lot of weight in the district.

"The less competitive nature of the district may have also slowed fundraising from individual donors, but also she's so far ahead in campaign finance that she's not at all hurting," Saunders said.

The drop comes after Boebert announced late last year she would opt to run in Colorado's Fourth Congressional District, rather than seek reelection in Colorado's Third Congressional District, after incumbent GOP Representative Ken Buck retired from Congress this year.

Boebert has said the move is related to her personal life, but political analysts noted it could benefit her politically as well, as her new district is much more Republican than her former, which backed former President Donald Trump by only eight points in 2020 and nearly elected a Democrat over Boebert in 2022.

The Fourth District is comprised of the vast, rural eastern part of the state, as well as some Democratic-trending suburbs of Denver.

Boebert faces several Republican challengers in the the primary. Although her fundraising dropped in the less-competitive district, other Republicans continued to raise much less than her.

Radio host Deborah Flora appeared to come closest, raising about $169,627 from individuals. Logan County Commissioner Jerry Sonnenberg, meanwhile, raised about $130,894.

But Democrat Ike McCorkle outraised Boebert, as he received total of $786,260 from individuals in the first three months of 2024.

It remains unclear whether the election is going to be competitive in November.

Trump carried the district by 18 points in 2020, and Buck easily won reelection in 2022. The Cook Political Report classifies it as Safe Republican, meaning it is "not considered competitive" and "not likely to become closely contested."

A recent poll from Gravis Marketing, sponsored by McCorkle's campaign, showed Boebert trailing McCorkle.

In the poll—which surveyed 529 likely voters from March 27 to 29—38 percent of respondents said they planned to back McCorkle, while 31 percent said they were voting for Boebert. However, 30 percent of respondents said they were unsure who they would support; it remains unknown whether the undecided voters could tilt the race in favor of Boebert.

Boebert faced several controversies in recent months. In September 2023, she apologized after being asked to leave a performance of the musical Beetlejuice at a theater in Denver after allegedly repeatedly vaping and being disruptive.

In February, Her 18-year-old son Tyler Boebert was arrested on 22 charges, including criminal possession of a financial device, criminal possession of ID documents and ID theft with intent to use.

Update 4/24/2024 1:44 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.