Conservative firebrand Lauren Boebert announced on Wednesday she was switching congressional districts for the 2024 election, after scraping to re-election in 2022 by only 546 votes.

Boebert, a 37-year-old grandmother and mother of four sons, said that she had made the decision to continue her fight against ‘the socialists and communists taking over our country.’

She said there was ‘dark money’ directed at her personally ‘to steal this seat’.

And she said it was a fresh start after her divorce and ‘personal mistakes’.

Boebert made headlines over the summer after she was caught on camera groping a date, vaping and taking selfies at a performance of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver, and then giving ushers the finger when she was asked to leave and declaring: ‘Do you know who I am?’ She also sparked controversy by heckling Joe Biden in his 2022 State of the Union address, and caused anger by making an Islamophobic joke about Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

Boebert announced her switch of districts in a Facebook video published on Wednesday, saying: ‘I did not arrive at this decision easily.

Lauren Boebert on Wednesday announced that she would not contest Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District – which she narrowly won in 2022. Instead, she will switch to Colorado’s 4th

Boebert is pictured with Donald Trump in February 2022. She remains a staunch supporter of the former president

‘A lot of prayer, a lot of tough conversations and a lot of perspective convinced me that this is the best way I can continue to fight for Colorado, for the conservative movement and for my children’s future.’

She said the Hollywood elites, Aspen money men and George Soros who tried to stop her can ‘go and pound sand’.

The decision makes her re-election chances significantly stronger.

The 3rd District leans 9 percentage points in Republicans’ favor, The Colorado Sun reported – while the 4th District leans 27 points toward the GOP, according to a nonpartisan analysis of election results from 2016 to 2020 by staffers for the Colorado legislature. 

She has struggled to fundraise for her 3rd District reelection bid, the paper reported, and Republican donors in western Colorado have lost their enthusiasm for her brand of fiery pro-Trump politics. 

Ryan Reynolds and Barbra Streisand are among stars who were trying to unseat her by donating to her Democrat rival’s campaign.

The A-Listers have been joined by Eagles founder Don Henley, actor and director Rob Reiner, as well as Johnny Cash’s daughter Rosanne Cash in donating to Adam Frisch’s 2023 campaign.

Boebert, seen in October in Congress, faced losing her re-election campaign in 2024 

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Data shows Reynolds has donated $1,500 to Frisch’s campaign, Henley has donated $6,600, Streisand has donated $1,000, Reiner has donated $3,300 and Cash has donated $550.

Boebert’s decision is good news for the Republican party, which feared she would lose. 

It does not mean the 3rd District will vote Democrat – the district hasn’t sent a Democrat to Congress since 2008 – but it does mean that a more moderate Republican can take the seat.

Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd, who is supported by a number of big-name Republicans and the conservative editorial board of The Colorado Springs Gazette, was challenging Boebert for her seat. 

Carbondale investor Russ Andrews and Delta County business owner Curtis McCrackin are also in the race.

Boebert said on Wednesday she would move her family to the 4th District – even though she does not have to do so to qualify.

Boebert’s divorce from Jason, 36, her husband of 18 years and father to her four children, was finalized in October after the couple’s shock split in May 

Boebert and her date, Quinn Gallagher, sparked outrage in September after they were caught on camera fondling each other at a Denver performance of Beetlejuice, and were kicked out of the theater

Boebert is seen baring her teeth in the theater lobby after being ejected and also gave staff the finger  

At present, she lives in Garfield County, near the town of Silt – hundreds of miles from the 4th District’s boundaries. 

The 4th District spans the entire eastern border of Colorado, and all the land east of Denver stretching from Oklahoma in the south to Nebraska in the north, and east to Kansas.

The 3rd District, by contrast, stretched over the western border of the state, encompassing the wealthy mountain towns of Aspen and Telluride. 

The 4th District is currently represented by Ken Buck, but Buck announced in November he would not run for re-election in 2024.

Buck, 64, said he considers himself a conservative aligned with Ronald Reagan, and adheres to individual liberty and economic freedom. He said he was stepping down partly in dismay at his colleagues’ refusal to accept the 2020 election result, and partly because Congress was no longer able to get anything done.

Boebert is far from the only Republican seeking to replace Buck, but her $1.4 million war chest will certainly help her campaign. 

She faces competition from conservative talk radio host Deborah Flora; former state senators Jerry Sonnenberg and Ted Harvey; and state representative Richard Holtorf.