Lauren Boebert's New Fundraising Tactic Blasted by Colorado Republican

Colorado Republican Representative Ken Buck blasted Congresswoman Lauren Boebert's new fundraising tactic, calling it "fundamentally unfair."

Buck planned to retire at the end of his term in January 2025 over frustration with his own party but announced on Tuesday that he would be departing from office earlier than expected on March 22. Boebert, a Republican who serves Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, has been campaigning for Buck's seat in Colorado's 4th District.

On Wednesday, Boebert announced that she will not be running in the special election to determine who will fill Buck's vacant seat for the rest of his term. Instead, she will go with her original plan to run in the state's primary, which will decide who will be up for the 4th district seat in the 2024-2026 House term.

Boebert called Buck's earlier-than-expected retirement a "gift to the uniparty," in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday. "The establishment concocted a swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election," she said.

In a follow-up post, Boebert wrote, "It's MAGA vs the Establishment. I intend to win for MAGA but I'm going to need A LOT of help to do it," and attached a link to donate to her campaign.

Buck told The Colorado Sun in an interview published on Friday that Boebert and others suggesting that he ended his term earlier than expected to make it harder for the congresswoman to win his seat was "ridiculous."

The congressman said it was "fundamentally unfair" for Boebert to raise funds by claiming that Buck was taking sides. "I'm not giving anybody an advantage or disadvantage," he said.

"I have done my very best to stay out of this primary election," Buck said.

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

Buck said that his resignation was solely due to his growing frustration with Congress' inaction and his desire to focus on election reforms.

When he first announced his plans to retire from Congress in November 2023, Buck said: "I always have been disappointed with our inability in Congress to deal with major issues & I'm also disappointed that the Republican Party continues to rely on this lie that the 2020 election was stolen & rely on the January 6 narrative."

Boebert took aim at the timing of the special election in her initial post on Wednesday as Colorado Governor Jared Polis intends to have it on the same day as the primary election, which is set for June 25.

"Forcing an unnecessary Special Election on the same day as the Primary Election will confuse voters, result in a lameduck Congressman on day one, and leave the 4th District with no representation for more than three months," she wrote.

Buck told The Colorado Sun that the date of the special election was a factor in the timing of his resignation. He said he wanted to limit the cost to taxpayers by having the special election coincide with the primary election.