Donald Trump’s ally Lauren Boebert won a third term in Congress after moving to a new, more solidly conservative district in Colorado.
The 37-year-old Republican, known for her love of guns, her anti-LGBTQ+ views and her repeated Islamophobic remarks, won over new rightwing voters in Colorado’s fourth district, despite behavior that even some Republicans have criticized.
“I held my nose because I would not vote for the Democrat,” one local voter, who said she was no fan of Boebert’s “antics”, told the Colorado Sun ahead of Tuesday’s election.
In 2022, running in Colorado’s third district, Boebert faced the Democratic challenger Adam Frisch and won by just 546 votes. Her move to a different district allowed her to avoid a congressional rematch with Frisch, as Republicans have fought to hang on to their slight majority in the House of Representatives.
In the fourth district, Boebert defeated her opponent, the first-time Democratic candidate Trisha Calvarese, after easily outpacing a slate of lesser-known Republican challengers in the primary this spring.
In 2023, Boebert was kicked out of a performance in Denver for disruptive behavior, including vaping and groping her date, actions that were captured on CCTV.
Read more of the Guardian’s 2024 US election coverage