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DENVER (AP) 鈥� Former Republican U.S. Rep. Ken Buck resigned from Congress of the GOP鈥檚 unwavering devotion to former President Donald Trump. Now by one of their most boisterous leaders, Rep. Lauren Boebert.

Boebert, who has built a name as a headline-grabbing devotee of Trump, won in Tuesday night鈥檚 Republican primary election in Colorado鈥檚 4th Congressional District. Boebert joined the district鈥檚 race last year, escaping what would have been in the seat she currently holds and nearly lost to a Democrat in 2022.

The congresswoman鈥檚 political play succeeded. Buck鈥檚 hopes for a more tempered Congress apparently did not, at least in his former seat.

While other Republican candidates in Boebert's vein lost their primaries in Colorado on Tuesday, Boebert has a clear road to victory in a dark red district that threw its weight behind Trump in 2020.

After her win Tuesday, Boebert donned reflective gold shoes sold by Trump and a 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� hat with his signature and defended her unyielding politics. While some may disagree with her style in Washington, she said, 鈥渘othing happens without force.鈥�

But that road to victory in Tuesday's primary wasn't so clear. The was made more dicey by an embarrassing moment when the congresswoman was caught on tape vaping and causing a disturbance with a date at a musical production of 鈥淏eetlejuice." Boebert was also beset along her journey by accusations of carpetbagging from fellow Republicans.

Buck, a staunch fiscal conservative and alumni of the hardline House Freedom Caucus that includes Boebert, has avoided publicly airing his thoughts on his likely replacement. He declined a request for comment for this article.

But the former congressman has broadly criticized his party's parroting of Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, questioned efforts to impeach President Joe Biden and dismissed some in his party's claims that those charged in the Jan. 6 capitol riots are political prisoners.

Boebert has had a hand in much of it. In a recording of Buck at a private event initially reported by , the former congressman said 鈥渟he makes George Santos look like a saint.鈥� Santos was last year.

Drew Sexton, Boebert's campaign manager, said that voters backed Boebert because they saw her political obstinance in Congress as promises kept on the campaign trial and her apologies as sincere.

鈥淪he鈥檚 shown that she鈥檚 contrite. She is committed to to doing things better for her personally, and she鈥檚 absolutely making the right votes," he said.

The replacement of more traditional Republicans with MAGA adherents is a broader trend, said Seth Masket, director of the Center on American Politics in Denver.

鈥淪ome of them have tried to fight it and some of them have just decided to resign and for the most part they are replaced with people who are much more loyal to Donald Trump. That鈥檚 very consistent with the direction of the party,鈥� Masket said.

While Boebert stands roughly 30% ahead of the Republican runner-up with nearly all votes counted Wednesday, more than half of voters cast their ballots for one of the other five candidates.

鈥淏oebert offers kind of a mixed lesson to other Republicans,鈥� said Masket, pointing to her near loss in 2022 in an otherwise Republican-leaning district. 鈥淭here鈥檚 maybe not that much of a price, but there is some price to be paid for acting in very brazen ways and for embracing Trump too much."

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Jesse Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Jesse Bedayn, The Associated Press