Lauren Boebert has made a name for herself among conservatives in a number of ways since she became a US representative out of Colorado. Not all of them have apparently sat very well with the people who elected her, though. The pro-gun, coronavirus skeptic has made a number of notable comments about Joe Biden and the world at large, becoming a conservative star along with the likes of QAnon-believing Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Boebert recently took a trip to the US/Mexico border to put on a show with a cardboard Kamala Harris. It’s the latest publicity stunt that’s made headlines but according to a report the people who elected her are tired of the shenanigans she’s spending so much time on. In a piece about the politician by Politico, a number of people in Pueblo, Colorado seem frustrated by Boebert spending so much time supporting former president Donald Trump and not advocating for the place she represents.
Sol Sandoval, one of several people already fighting for her seat, is featured in the piece. Even those who voted for Boebert only a few months ago appear to be turned off by the insurgency-supporting Boebert’s gun advocacy.
During least one individual who voted for Boebert at Sandoval’s listening session said he was disappointed in her and intended to help Sandoval’s campaign. Gus Garcia, a political independent who also voted for Biden, said, “I thought Lauren would be a great representative for small-business owners because she owns a small business, and she came from a humble lifestyle,”
“But she has been so terribly disappointing,” continued Garcia, who owns a textile recycling firm. “I am humiliated and embarrassed when she speaks on the House floor. She screams all the time, and she seems to have affiliated herself with white supremacists.”
In many ways, it demonstrates how national rhetoric can only get you so far in terms of local politics. One member interviewed, for example, mentioned that one of the only American rail industries is located in Boebert’s district, and that it would gain substantially from a proposed infrastructure bill from the Biden administration, which includes an Amtrak expansion among its numerous plans. The idea of the story is that local socioeconomic issues, as well as a number of Republican culture war touchstones, may not coincide with those who elect her as much as she wants.
Other voters here decried a fundraising appeal of Boebert’s exclaiming that Pelosi and Biden “want to take our guns,” which was emailed to supporters hours after a shooting at a Boulder grocery store left 10 people dead.
“People here feel Boebert doesn’t represent their values,” says Colorado state Senate President Leroy Garcia, a Pueblo Democrat who is popular with voters in both parties. “There is a lot of passion around seeing her removed.”
Boebert was elected in November and will remain in office until 2023. However, the early results of her work for the people who elected her do not appear to be very good, and given the razor-thin margin with which she was elected last year, it may be difficult for her to stay in Congress if that narrative does not alter.
