05/18/2024

If Colorado Democrats cannot get rid of Rep. Lauren Boebert in an election they may have another way to get rid of her and it may come as a gift from a nonpartisan redistricting group.

In using the 2020 census as a guide the nonpartisan redistricting group would move Rep. Boebert’s address into a solidly held Democrat district headed by Rep. Joe Neguse, The Denver Post reported.

The proposal from the commission staff on Friday would rearrange the political geography as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process. It’s the first test of the commission model approved by voters in 2018. Staff had released a possible congressional map in June, but Friday’s was its first drawn off the official, newly released Census data that is required to be used for redistricting.

The map will be followed by a series of hearings, along with a map of state legislative districts. Both may change significantly in the weeks to come, as the commission races to meet an end-of-the-month deadline to approve maps.

The congressional map keeps the four Democratic seats relatively safe, as well as preserving three as solidly Republican. It would add a new swing seat — the 8th Congressional District — running from Adams County to Greeley, an area that voted Democratic by 1.9 percentage points in last year’s Senate election.

That could make the final breakdown of the state’s congressional districts 4-4, an underwhelming split for Democrats in a state they won by 13 points in last year’s presidential election.

“The new process is designed to gather public comment to improve upon the preliminary plan and, at first blush, this map seems to have moved in that direction,” Democrat strategist Curtis Hubbard said.

Boebert would have the option of moving back into her own district so she could continue to campaign for the position again or she could challenge Neguse, which would be a tough task in the heavily Democratic district.

“As a Coloradan, I hate the map,” former State Sen. Greg Brophy, a Republican who lives in Wray, said. “As a Republican, it could be a lot worse.”

“So, if the redistricting map released tonight holds, looks like I may be running for re-election against … Lauren Boebert,” Rep. Neguse said.

Boebert has been a staunch supporter of Donald Trump and a fighter in her time in Congress, as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez knows first hand.

Boebert used her speech at CPAC to decry government handouts and the welfare state.

“We’re here to tell the government we don’t want your benefits, we don’t want your welfare. Don’t come knocking on my door with your Fauci ouchy, you leave us the hell alone,” she said to the CPAC crowd.

The “Fauci ouchy” is likely a reference to Joe Biden’s plan to go from door to door to talk to unvaccinated people about getting the vaccine.

Says later she made an even more controversial statement about Biden’s plan to have people going from door to door.

“Biden has deployed his needle Nazis to Mesa County. The people of my district are more than smart enough to make their own decisions about the experimental vaccine and don’t need coercion by federal agents,” she said. “Did I wake up in Communist China?”

She also used her speech to accuse Democrats from using lockdowns to keep Republicans from getting together.

“We’ve been living under tyrannical rule that wants to keep us separated. Keep us isolated. Keep us locked down and muzzle our children,” the representative said. “That is not the American dream and we are fighting to expose their agenda and make sure we have these God given rights that’s guaranteed to us not by corrupt politicians but by God almighty.”

But Rep. Ocasio-Cortez took issue with Rep. Boebert’s attack on the welfare state, giving the usual Democrat lines about people needing the government’s money.

“Tell ‘em loud and proud girl! GOP will strip your unemployment protections and dismantle any semblance of a public safety net we have left! Then make working people pay way more for everything on low wages while Wall St gets a meal ticket! Good ol conservative values baby!” she said.

But Boebert hit her back and hit her back hard.

“Oh please, Sandy. Ask Abuela how that government reliance is going. Nobody is taking safety nets away. Growing up in a Democrat household, I stood in line for bread and government cheese. I want more for your grandma, just as I did for me. Don’t limit the American dream,” she said.

“The Democrats are the threat to the social safety net programs in this country. With inflation soaring, those social security checks start buying you a whole lot less. The dollar is on the way to meaning as much as the bolivar,” she said.

Then, quote tweeting a video of Rep. Ocasio-Cortez playing some carnival game she said, “Sandy should stick to balloon games at carnivals. This really suits her better than Congress.”