In a stunning move, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert on Wednesday night announced that she plans to run next year for the seat held by retiring fellow Republican Ken Buck in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, rather than seek reelection in the district she barely won last year.

A Silt Republican serving her second term, Boebert joins a crowded GOP primary field in the heavily Republican neighboring district, which covers Douglas County and parts of Larimer and Weld counties, as well as much of the Eastern Plains.

Boebert won reelection last year by just 546 votes in the Western Slope-based 3rd District, which leans toward Republicans by 9 percentage points. The 4th District, which is more favorable toward Republicans, prefers GOP candidates by 27 points, according to a nonpartisan analysis prepared by Colorado’s redistricting commission.

Buck announced in November that he isn’t seeking a sixth term.

“My mission has always been and will always be to defend our freedoms and defeat the Democrat socialists and communists so we can take our country back, but that mission does not take place in a vacuum either personally or professionally,” Boebert said in a statement.

“I did not arrive at this decision easily. A lot of prayer, a lot of tough conversations, and a lot of perspective have convinced me this is the best way I can continue to fight for Colorado, for the conservative movement, for my kids’ future, and for the future of this great country.”

Boebert said the move “helps stop Hollywood elites and national progressive groups from buying the 3rd District,” claiming that her detractors are pouring millions of dollars into defeating her not over of policy differences but because she threatens the liberal agenda.

Adam Frisch, the Democrat who lost to Boebert last year in the congressional race in the country, is seeking a rematch in 2024 and has so far outraised the incumbent by roughly three-to-one, setting state fundraising records in the process. According to the most recent campaign finance reports, Frisch hauled in more than $7.7 million to Boebert’s $2.2 million.

Outside groups have already poured more than $1 million into defeating Boebert.

Earlier this month, President Joe Biden put a focus on Boebert while touring a wind turbine manufacturing plant in Pueblo, the 3rd CD’s largest city, calling her out for opposing the administration’s signature legislative priorities. Boebert responded by attacking the president and the Democrats’ legislative agenda.

The outspoken former owner of a gun-themed restaurant has been facing headwinds in her bid for reelection this year.

Even before Boebert drew international attention after being ejected from a performance of “Beetlejuice: The Musical” in Denver this summer, a poll commissioned by Frisch showed the Democrat held a 2-point lead over Boebert, within the survey’s margin of error.

Since the incident at the theater, however, numerous current and former Republican officials have pulled their support from Boebert and endorsed Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd, one of her primary challengers in the district she currently represents.

In the new district, at least six Republicans are already seeking the nomination, including former state Sens. Jerry Sonnenberg and Ted Harvey, state Rep. Richard Holtorf and conservative talk radio host Deborah Flora. House Minority Leader Mike Lynch and former congressional nominee Peter Yu are expected to jump in the race within days.

Holtorf panned Boebert’s announcement late Wednesday in a text message to Colorado Politics.

“I am not impressed with another Carpetbagger shopping for a district,” Holtorf said. “She is grossly lacking in understanding the needs of the 21 counties in Eastern Colorado that make up the district.”

House members don’t have to reside in the districts they represent, needing only to be residents of the state that includes their district.

Boebert said Wednesday night that she plans to move into the 4th CD in 2024.

Once considered a swing district, Colorado’s 3rd CD hasn’t sent a Democrat to Washington since three-term U.S. Rep. John Salazar lost a bid for reelection in 2010 to Republican Scott Tipton. Boebert unseated Tipton in a GOP primary in 2020. Last year, Boebert easily survived a primary challenge from former state Sen. Don Coram, defeating the Montrose lawmaker by a nearly 30-point margin.

The 4th CD has been represented by a Democrat recently, though only for a single term, when Betsy Markey held the seat from 2009 to 2011.