In the hours after U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert announced she was dropping out of the race to represent Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, the response from leaders and politicos throughout the sprawling region began to take shape.

Made through a video posted to social media Wednesday evening, Boebert’s announcement that she would instead run for the 4th Congressional District shifted the dynamics in a race that has the potential to shake up national politics. 

Boebert’s reelection bid for the 3rd Congressional District appeared shaky as Democrats have targeted the seat to win power in the struggle for control of Congress. The Democratic candidate in the race will now have a steeper uphill battle, as most indicators have shown Boebert’s vulnerability in the district rather than Republicans’ vulnerability in general. On the other side of the state, the 4th Congressional District is more favorable to Republicans. 

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In 2022, Boebert narrowly won reelection against former Aspen City Council member Adam Frisch with a margin of only 546 votes. The two were expected to have a rematch in the 2024 election.

Boebert’s chances for reelection began to crack after the congresswoman was thrown out of a Denver theater earlier this year during a performance of “Beetlejuice” for repeatedly talking and vaping. Boebert initially denied she had behaved disruptively but backtracked after video was released showing her vaping. The video also showed her and her date groping each other at the performance. 

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A month later, financial reports showed prominent Republicans across the state supporting one of Boebert’s primary opponents — Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney. Hurd, who is likely to see several new Republican challengers enter the race now that Boebert has stepped aside, on Thursday pointed to his endorsements among GOP leaders throughout the state.

“We have the support of elected and previously elected Republicans all over the state and district and I will fight every day to ensure this seat stays in Republican hands,” he said. 

Frisch, whose success in a typically Republican district has been ascribed largely to his opponent being Boebert, said in an interview Thursday his strategy in the race will remain the same and that he is confident he can beat any candidate in the general election.

“I hope everyone has some humble pie left over — at national and state level on the Democratic side and the Republican side and the media pundits — that they had to eat last time when we were supposed to lose by 40,000 votes and ended up losing by fewer than 550 votes,” he said. 

Prominent Republicans in the district are likely mulling over whether to enter the race, as it’s one of the few opportunities for the group in an increasingly blue state. 

State Rep. Matt Soper, a Delta Republican, said he’s considering entering the race in a text message. State Sen. Perry Will, a New Castle Republican, said Thursday he’s not interested in running for the seat.

“It’s probably not in the cards for me,” he said.

No other additional candidates have announced their candidacy yet. 

In an emailed statement, Shad Murib, the chair of the state Democratic Party, blasted the move by Boebert, calling it “cowardly.”

“The good people of Western and Southern Colorado didn’t wait for an election to beat Lauren Boebert — we scared her straight and chased her out of her own district. With this carpetbagging move, Lauren Boebert has shown herself to be everything she claims she isn’t: a typical swampy politician looking for a reason to call Washington, D.C., home.

In a statement to the Denver Post, Dave Williams, the chair of the state Republican Party criticized Boebert’s decision.

“She is clearly concerned about losing to Jeff Hurd or Adam Frisch and is doing whatever she can to keep her seat in Congress — while jeopardizing our ability to retain Congressional District 3 as well as our slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Williams said. “There were many Republicans counting on her in CD3, and they were let down today.”

Elliott Wenzler is the Western Slope politics reporter for the Craig Press and its sister publications in Glenwood Springs, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Craig, Summit County and Grand County. Reach her at ewenzler@swiftcom.com.