Lauren Boebert wins easily, divisive GOP chair Dave Williams loses in Colorado primaries

Rep. Lauren Boebert will be the Republican candidate in the 4th Congressional District in Eastern Colorado after winning her party’s primary on Tuesday. 

Boebert secured 43% of the vote, according to results as of 8:30 p.m.. 

Boebert, who currently represents the 3rd Congressional District in Western Colorado, announced in December she would run in the 4th Congressional District, which is on the opposite side of the state. 

That decision came after Boebert’s opponent in the 3rd district, Jeff Hurd, began receiving endorsements from prominent Republicans following the congresswoman’s expulsion from a Denver theater during a performance of “Beetlejuice,” where she was vaping and talking loudly during the show.

The state’s 4th Congressional District, which covers a significant portion of Eastern Colorado including Weld and Douglas counties, is a much safer district for Republicans than Boebert’s current district, which spans the Roaring Fork Valley, Grand Junction in Mesa County and down to Pueblo.

Dave Williams loses big

Dave Williams, who is the chair of the Colorado Republican Party, lost his primary bid in the election to represent Colorado’s 5th Congressional District. Jeff Crank, a conservative commentator and activist defeated Williams by about 35 percentage points, according to the unofficial results.

Williams has been under significant fire from fellow Republicans after a series of controversial decisions he has made as the state party chair. He has tried to bar unaffiliated voters from participating in GOP primaries, removed a reporter he didn’t like from a party assembly and frequently attacks fellow Republicans, calling them “weak.”

He’s used his position and the dwindling party resources to attack his Republican opponent in his Congressional race and boost his own campaign. This month, he sent out a note from the official party email calling members of the LGBTQ community “godless groomers” and saying they want to “harm our children.” 

There are mounting calls for the party chair to resign and efforts underway to force a vote of no confidence if he doesn’t voluntarily step down.

Another Republican named Dave Williams, who lives in Buena Vista and is set to face off against Colorado House Speaker Julie McCluskie in the general election, has been impacted by state party chair Williams’ reputation. 

Elliott Wenzler is the Western Slope politics reporter for The Aspen Times and its sister publications in Glenwood Springs, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Summit County, and Grand County.