Lauren Boebert won a major victory on Friday when she secured the most support out of those vying to be the Republican candidate for the House seat representing Colorado's 4th Congressional District in November at an assembly meeting.
In total, the Donald Trump-supporting firebrand picked up 215 votes, just over 40 percent of the total, at the event in Pueblo placing her substantially ahead of the other candidates, according to Colorado Public Radio.
Boebert currently serves in the House as representative for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, but in December she announced she instead wanted to stand for the state's more reliably conservative 4th District later this year.
To get on the Colorado Republican primary ballot for a House seat, a candidate is required to either get a minimum of 30 percent of the vote at a congressional district assembly, or to get a certain number of valid signatures to a petition and at least 10 percent at the assembly.
The number of signatures required for candidates going down this route is either 1,500 or 10 percent of the number cast in the last general election for the seat, whichever is lowest.
Former state Senator Ted Harvey who is also seeking to get on the Republican ballot received 135 votes on Friday, short of the 159 he needed to get 30 percent of the vote. This effectively knocks him out of the race.
Colorado state Representative Richard Holtorf and ex-state Senator Jerry Sonnenberg, who are also vying to represent the 4th congressional district in the House, got 81 and 96 votes respectively. This is over 10 percent of the total, meaning they will be on the primary ballot if their petitions of signatures are accepted as valid.
Speaking after the results were announced, Boebert said: "I'm so honored today to have these numbers showing that the efforts are working.
"I don't have to argue my record. I have that track record of doing exactly what I say. You know where I stand on the issues. And it's not a wonder to you what I will do as your representative in Colorado's 4th district."
The result means her name will be placed first on the GOP ballot in June.
Newsweek contacted representatives of Boebert's 2024 House campaign by email on Saturday at 5:30 a.m. ET. This article will be updated if they decide to comment.
Boebert announced her bid to move to represent 4th congressional district after its then incumbent, Republican Rep. Ken Buck, announced he wouldn't seek reelection. Buck then stepped down in March meaning a special election will take place in June between Democrat Trisha Calvarese and Republican Greg Lopez, who is expected to stand as a placeholder meaning he doesn't plan to vie for the seat again in November.
On April 1, Ike McCorkle, a Democrat who is running in his party's primary for the 4th congressional district in November, published a poll his campaign commissioned from Gravis Marketing. This put him on 38 percent of the vote against 31 percent for Boebert in a hypothetical matchup between the two for the district.
CNN reported on Friday that Boebert was told she wouldn't be given any more alcoholic drinks at a GOP event in New York City in December 2023 because she had been "overserved," and that she was also instructed to stop trying to take pictures with former President Trump, who was headlining the gala.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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James Bickerton is a Newsweek U.S. News reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is covering U.S. politics and world ... Read more
