The 4th Congressional District seat, which covers most of the eastern half of Colorado, has been vacant since Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) resigned in March. A special election was held on Tuesday to fill Rep. Buck’s expiring term, but Boebert decided not to run, and Republican candidate Greg Lopez will not challenge Boebert until the end of his term.
Despite her new district, Boebert’s previous district covered the other side of the state, but she brought some notable advantages to the primary: She has Trump’s endorsement and is leading the candidates in fundraising since April 1, according to Federal Election Commission records.
Boebert’s main opponents included Republicans with strong ties to the district, such as Logan County Commissioner Jerry Sonnenberg, who narrowly lost the GOP nomination in a special election.
Boebert celebrated her victory in a social media post, saying, “This victory belongs to the loyal voters of Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.”
Boebert has been mired in controversy since she was first elected to the House in 2020, aligning herself with pro-Trump troublemakers in the House and weathering several personal scandals, including being booted out of a Denver theater last year.
Democrat Adam Frisch, a former Aspen City Councilman, is running again in the 3rd District after defeating Boebert by 600 votes two years ago.
Frisch won Tuesday’s primary unopposed, but Boebert’s decision to drop out prompted a serious effort to influence the Republican primary. Frisch and outside groups ran ads that appeared aimed at promoting Republican candidate Ron Hanks to primary supporters.
Hanks, a former state legislator, has repeated Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen and attended the rally that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Despite the interference, Hanks finished in a distant second place, losing to attorney Jeff Hurd.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, the largest Republican super PAC focused on House races, spent more than $400,000 trying to keep Hanks from becoming a candidate.
“Democrats have pulled every dirty trick possible to interfere in this election and push their preferred candidate through the fall,” CLF President Dan Conston said in a statement, adding that Hurd’s nomination “will ensure this seat will remain Republican-controlled in November.”
According to the Associated Press, Lopez, the former mayor of Parker, Colorado, was expected to easily win against Democrat Trisha Carballos, a former speechwriter, in the special election to finish off Governor Buck’s term.
In other Colorado primary races, state Rep. Gabe Evans is expected to win the Republican nomination in the 8th District and challenge Rep. Yadira Carabeo (Democrat) in a closely contested Denver-area district, according to the Associated Press. Evans has received support from President Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that ran against Trump in this year’s presidential primary. Evans’ primary opponent is former state Rep. Janek Joshi, who is supported by the Colorado Republican Party.
Caraveo was quick to draw distinctions in the general election, with his campaign calling Evans “an inexperienced, pro-Trump state legislator with a history of caving to the most extreme elements of his party” in a news release.
In Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, Republicans have selected Colorado Springs-based conservative pundit Jeff Crank to replace retiring Rep. Doug Lamborn (R), according to Associated Press projections. Crank, with Johnson’s endorsement, defeated controversial state Republican Chairman Dave Williams, who was endorsed by Trump. The district is leaning Republican in November’s election.
