A look back on 2020: Rifle’s Lauren Boebert heads to Congress after upsetting incumbent Scott Tipton in GOP primary, winning general election

Rifle restaurant owner and ardent Second Amendment supporter Lauren Boebert pulled off the political upset of 2020 to now represent Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District in Washington, D.C. come January.
Boebert rode a wave of notoriety that began when she confronted then-Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke during a fall 2019 campaign stop in Denver over his gun control proposals.
Then, in the spring of this year, she defied state COVID-19 public health orders by reopening her Shooters Grill restaurant, resulting in a restaurant license suspension.
By then, she had become the darling of the political right, going on to defeat five-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton in the June 30 primary.
Boebert, 33, capped it off with a win in the Nov. 3 general election over Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush, notably losing the vote in her home Garfield County in the process, but winning big in other parts of the district.
Boebert commented after the victory, “It is an incredible honor and privilege to win this election and have the opportunity to be the first mom to serve Colorado’s Third Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.”
Boebert has continued to grab attention in the lead-up to her taking the oath, seeking clearance from Capitol Police to pack a pistol on Capitol grounds, vowing to challenge the election of Democratic President-Elect Joe Biden, and fending off claims of her support for QAnon conspiracies.

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