Colorado resident Marina Zimmerman announced on Tuesday that she is planning to challenge Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) in the next round of House elections in 2022. Boebert, a first-term Congresswoman, has gained notoriety for her belligerent approach to basic issues of governing, having even touted plans to carry a gun while on duty in the Capitol. Boebert has also helped spread vitriolic nonsense like the ideas that the 2020 presidential election outcome was dubious and that President Joe Biden has corrupt foreign financial connections.
Zimmerman says that she interned for the Congressional office of John Salazar, who held Boebert’s seat — as a Democrat — from 2005 until 2011, when Republican Scott Tipton took over. Boebert subsequently defeated Tipton in the 2020 Republican primary race for the seat and beat her Democratic general election challenger, Diane Mitsch Bush, by a little over 6 percent.
Meanwhile, Zimmerman commented as follows:
‘I’m going to challenge Lauren Boebert (if she makes it to 2022) for the Colorado 3rd District. I Graduated with honors with a degree in Paralegal Studies, Graduated Fort Lewis College, 2008 Political Science / with pre-law minor. Interned for US Rep John Salazar.’
I'm going to challenge Lauren Boebert (if she makes it to 2022) for the Colorado 3rd District. I Graduated with honors with a degree in Paralegal Studies, Graduated Fort Lewis College, 2008 Political Science / with pre-law minor. Interned for US Rep John Salazar.
— Marina Zimmerman (@Marina4Colorado) January 26, 2021
Elsewhere in the country, high-profile Congressional races have already been taking shape. Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) have both already announced that they do not intend to run for re-election, meaning that two open Senate seats will be on the ballot in 2022. In Ohio, Donald Trump won in the 2020 presidential election — but over in Pennsylvania, whose other Senator (Bob Casey) is already a Democrat, Joe Biden won in the recent presidential race. Democratic victories in statewide elections in Ohio are also not out of the question — in both 2008 and 2012, the Obama-Biden ticket won Ohio.
At present, Democrats have control of both the House and Senate, although their leadership is tenuous. In the 2020 elections, Republicans picked up some House seats, and the Senate currently stands at 50-50, with Democrats in control because of Vice President Kamala Harris’s role as a tiebreaker. On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) finally relented on his demand for a formal pledge to preserve the filibuster, a move that helped clear the way for formal Democratic takeover of key Senate committees. Previously, McConnell had been blocking the formal adoption of the new organization of the chamber.
