Lauren Boebert told 40 people at her Durango meet and greet Thursday she’s running into Republicans who want an active representative in Congress, “not someone just warming a seat thinking we’re in a district we can’t lose.”
Boebert made her first Durango appearance at Four Leaves Winery after holding several appearances in Cortez. She will return to Cortez at 6 p.m. Friday at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 5231, 320 N. Harrison St.
“I think people want to see me, and then when they come, the first thing they say is, ‘Where’s your gun?’ I don’t have a good side. I have a gun side,” Boebert said.
And, showing up with a pistol strapped to her thigh, she didn’t disappoint attendees.
Boebert, who is challenging U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, for the 3rd Congressional District seat, told the crowd her open-carry practice, started at her restaurant, Shooters Grill in Rifle, has provided a benefit she particularly enjoys.
“I’ve learned, I’m really good at triggering liberals, and I really like it,” she said.
While attending an Aspen City Council meeting, she said one of the councilors saw her Glock 9 mm and announced he was “awash with fear.”
She joked, “I didn’t know if he was going to call his mom or what?”
Beyond Boebert’s defense of gun rights, she said her signature issue is really a defense of something broader. “People see our advocacy for the Second Amendment (at Shooters Grill), but really what it is, is an advocacy for all our freedoms.”
Boebert said she was raised in a household with Democratic politics and an ethos that government assistance was essential because the family could not succeed on its own.
But after getting her first job at McDonald’s, she realized she could build her skills and advance in the workplace.
“I know what it’s like to stand in line for cheese and grape juice from the government. I thank God there was a minimum wage low enough when I was growing up that an owner of a McDonald’s could offer a girl with no skills a job,” she said.
Tom Clemens, who lives east of Durango, said he would vote for Boebert if she made the ballot.
“I’m not pleased with Tipton. I don’t see him taking any stands. He’s too mushy for me. He just tries to play it safe,” he said.
Clemens was unconcerned that knocking off a GOP incumbent might give Democrats a better chance to pick up the seat.
“I think she’d have a better chance, honestly, because she stands for something,” he said.
Boebert also previewed her first commercial, a 30-second spot that will run on social media in the 3rd Congressional District.
The commercial states:
“Hi everyone, I’m Lauren Boebert, and I want you to send me to Congress to help President Trump build the wall, drain the swamp and stand up to all the left-wing lunatics. I’m pro-Trump, pro-Constitution, pro-life, pro-guns, pro-energy. I’m a conservative, a Republican, a mom, a business owner. I’m in this fight because freedom is a great motivator.
“Join me. I’m Lauren Boebert, I’m running for Congress and I approved this message.”
Boebert asked attendees to support her at the 3rd Congressional District Assembly in Broomfield on March 17.
She will be placed on the ballot for the June 30 primary if she gets 30% of the assembly delegates to support her.
parmijo@durangoherald.com
Poll: Does Lauren Boebert have a chance at defeating Rep. Scott Tipton in the Republican primary for the 3rd Congressional District?
Yes - 1287 - 60.82%
No - 829 - 39.18%
