{"id":30907,"date":"2023-10-30T20:45:55","date_gmt":"2023-10-31T02:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/although-humbled-and-apologetic-lauren-boebert-is-sticking-to-her-guns\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:29:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:29:55","slug":"although-humbled-and-apologetic-lauren-boebert-is-sticking-to-her-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/although-humbled-and-apologetic-lauren-boebert-is-sticking-to-her-guns\/","title":{"rendered":"Although humbled and apologetic, Lauren Boebert is sticking to her guns"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"U.S.
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., holds her grandson, Josiah Boebert, 6 months, before speaking at the Montezuma County Lincoln Day Dinner at the Ute Mountain Casino Hotel. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

TOWAOC \u2013 U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert spoke Saturday at the Montezuma County Republicans Lincoln Day Dinner, where she pitched her accomplishments on the national scale to voters and apologized for her recent headline-grabbing conduct.<\/p>\n

She held her 6-month-old grandson, Josiah Boebert, during an interview with The Journal<\/em> before the dinner, in which the congresswoman resisted the idea that voters might prefer, in her words, an \u201cestablishment\u201d candidate in the 2024 election cycle.<\/p>\n

Boebert said her style is working for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cClosed mouths don\u2019t get fed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She points to the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins Endangered Fish Recovery Programs Reauthorization Act, a bipartisan bill working its way through Congress, as evidence of her work, as well as the Western Water Accelerated Revenue Repayment Act. The latter would allow borrowers to pay off to pay off water infrastructure-related debts to the federal government early.<\/p>\n

Boebert said the bill would help cities such as Cortez that have outstanding loans, although City Manager Drew Sanders confirmed that the city ultimately was able to pay off its loan early in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working on water issues, we\u2019re working on protecting our private citizens from the seizure of their land and water, protecting private property rights, and so much more with those pieces of legislation,\u201d Boebert said.<\/p>\n

Questions over her tenor arose after the last election, in which she retained her seat by just 546 votes in a district where Republicans have a 9% lead in registered voters.<\/p>\n

Even before an embarrassing incident at the Buell Theatre in Denver last month, in which she and her male companion were caught on camera behaving inappropriately during a performance before staff ejected them, some noticed<\/a> that the gun-toting agitator had taken up a more reserved posture.<\/p>\n

Boebert was one of the few holdouts who kept the now-former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from the gavel during his arduous election to the seat in January. It\u2019s an act she continues to highlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a key role in ensuring that we had fundamental changes in the way the House operates,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was never about a person and who was going to be the speaker. It\u2019s about commitments being made prior to a speaker being elected.\u201d<\/p>\n

But on her vote not to oust McCarthy from his seat when a motion was proposed by her colleague Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Boebert said she agreed with the reasons but \u201cdidn\u2019t feel that the timing was right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, she is taking credit for being an early voice in support of House Speaker Mike Johnson, the Louisiana congressman who was elected to replace McCarthy last week.<\/p>\n

\"Apologies
Apologies have become more a part of Rep. Lauren Boebert\u2019s campaign, and Saturday\u2019s Montezuma County Lincoln Day Dinner was no exception. \u201cWhen it comes to a personal night out, I hope that you accept my heartfelt apology,\u201d she told the 70 guests. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Finding the line<\/div>\n

Boebert appears to be looking for balance in her public persona.<\/p>\n

Her inclination toward flashy behavior, such as shouting out her nomination of Johnson on the floor the week before his election, is something she proudly highlights.<\/p>\n

Yet, in her speech to the fundraiser\u2019s 70 attendees, Boebert again apologized for her behavior at the Buell Theatre.<\/p>\n

The incident was national news and has become fodder for late-night talk shows and \u201cSaturday Night Live.\u201d Boebert\u2019s opponents h<\/a>ave cast it as an example of her shortcomings as a lawmaker.<\/p>\n

Her two GOP primary challengers, Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd and Russ Andrews, a financial adviser from the Roaring Fork Valley, also were in attendance Saturday at the Ute Mountain Casino Hotel. They both took shots at Boebert, commenting on her boisterous \u201cpersonality\u201d and questioning her integrity.<\/p>\n

\"Grand
Grand Junction lawyer Jeff Hurd, who is running against Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, talks with Allan Thayer, as his daughter Gabriella Hurd, 12, looks listens at the Montezuma County Lincoln Day Dinner at the Ute Mountain Casino Hotel. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Apologetic to the crowd, Boebert remained defiant in her interview with The Journal, <\/em>turning the other cheek to punchlines that have come at her expense.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love jokes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She blames the frenzy on the news media and says the coverage is not reflective of her constituents\u2019 feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t follow me. I mean, my voters \u2013 they understand that I have taken accountability,\u201d she said. \u201cI have apologized. I\u2019ve had deep conversations with many people throughout the district and at events just like this. And there\u2019s a lot of mercy and a lot of grace and people are more concerned about what\u2019s happening to their country.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says voters are concerned about other issues: fentanyl overdoses, immigration, the economy and federal spending.<\/p>\n

Boebert similarly brushed off talk about Adam Frisch, the Aspen Democrat who nearly unseated her last year and is expected to put up a tough fight in 2024.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs name ID,\u201d Boebert said, although the $3.4 million he raised last quarter, compared with her $854,000, may indicate he already has it.<\/p>\n

Although apologizing has become a part of her message on the campaign<\/a>, at least for now, Boebert says by and large, she is sticking to her guns.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am who I am. If there\u2019s an injustice that needs to be addressed, you\u2019re probably going to hear me say something about it,\u201d she told The Journal.<\/em> \u201cI\u2019m not going to sit idly by and watch our country be destroyed. I\u2019m not going to watch politicians lie to voters and keep my mouth buttoned.\u201d<\/p>\n

rschafir@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Closed mouths don\u2019t get fed,\u2019 congresswoman says in interview<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[981,28,826,774,265,1304,367,1879],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-30907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-3rd-congressional-district","tag-headlines","tag-political-campaigns","tag-political-candidates","tag-politics","tag-republican-party","tag-u-s-rep-lauren-boebert","tag-ute-mountain-casino"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81246,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30907\/revisions\/81246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30907"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=30907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}