The head of the Colorado Republican Party on Thursday questioned Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) surprising decision to quit her re-election race in the Centennial State’s 3rd Congressional District to instead run in the more GOP-friendly 4th District. 

By making the switch, Boebert will avoid facing Democrat Adam Frisch in a rematch of the 2022 midterms, whom she beat by a razor-thin 546-vote margin, and instead vie for the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.). 

“From a party perspective, we certainly don’t think it was the best move,” Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williamson said of Boebert’s 2024 gambit during an interview with CNN. 

“We felt that she was best suited for Congressional District 3 and that she was in the best position to win re-election and retain that for Republicans,” he added. 

The 3rd District leans 9 percentage points in favor of Republicans compared to the 27 percentage-point advantage the GOP has in the 4th District, according to the Colorado Sun, which cited an analysis of election results from 2016 to 2020 conducted by Colorado legislative staffers.

Rep. Lauren Boebert announced on Wednesday that she will be running for Congress in Colorado’s 4th district instead of her current one. Aristide Economopoulos

In a Facebook post Wednesday announcing her decision, Boebert argued that “dark money” from “Hollywood elites and progressive money groups” is being deployed to personally target her in the 3rd District – where Frisch has raised more than four times as much funds as Boebert in the most recent quarter. 

She contends that by switching districts, Republicans stand a better chance of keeping both seats in Congress. 

“We cannot lose the third and Colorado’s Fourth District is hungry for an unapologetic defender of freedom with a proven track record of standing strong for conservative principles,” she said in the post. “We have to protect our majority in the House, win the Senate and win the presidency.” 

On Thursday, Colorado GOP Chairman Dave Williamson doesn’t believe Boebert’s decision was the best move for the party. CNN

Boebert is not required to reside in the 4th District to represent it, but Williamson suggested that the 37-year-old lawmaker might have trouble defending the switch to voters.

“Time will tell whether or not we’re right, but I think she’s got a serious challenge on her hands trying to explain to the voters of [the 4th District] why she thought it was necessary to leave [the 3rd District] and have a better chance at keeping her seat in Congress,” Williamson said. “It’s kind of a problematic proposition. But it’s again, it’s something for the voters to decide.” 

Frisch, a former Aspen City Council member, slammed Boebert over the move in an X post on Thursday, 

Boebert is not required to reside in the 4th District to represent it, but Williamson suggested that the 37-year-old lawmaker might have trouble defending the switch to voters. AP

“This just proves Lauren Boebert was never committed to the communities of CO03,” he said. “She is only in politics for herself.”

“Boebert is running scared from CD-3 because she knows she can’t match our campaign’s ability to connect with voters and the hard work we have put in to provide them with a common sense voice in Congress,” Frisch said in a separate statement.