U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert said Wednesday that she will not pursue the Republican special election nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Ken Buck in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District after he departs Congress at the end of next week.
Boebert is still running, however, in the Republican primary to be the GOP nominee for the November election in the 4th District.
In a written statement, Boebert called Buck’s resignation “a swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election” for her opponents.
“Forcing an unnecessary special election on the same day as the primary election will confuse voters, result in a lame duck congressman on day one, and leave the 4th District with no representation for more than three months,” she wrote. “The 4th District deserves better.”
Boebert, who currently represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, added: “I will not further imperil the already very slim House Republican majority by resigning my current seat and will continue to deliver on my constituents’ priorities while also working hard to earn the votes of the people of Colorado’s 4th District who have made clear they are hungry for a real conservative.”
But the congresswoman’s decision also is an acknowledgement that her selection as the special election nominee was not certain — a nod to how her switch last year to the 4th District from the 3rd District was not met with universal celebration.
Buck surprised the political world Tuesday when he announced he would resign March 22 instead of when his term ends in January 2025, shrinking Republicans’ already razor-thin majority in the U.S. House. Buck had already said he would not run for reelection this fall.
The news also scrambled this year’s GOP primary in the 4th District, which is a Republican stronghold that includes Douglas County and Loveland and spans across Colorado’s Eastern Plains.
The winner of the primary is almost guaranteed to win the general election in November because of the district’s makeup.
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Gov. Jared Polis said he intends to schedule the special election to replace Buck for the rest of his term for June 25, the same day as Colorado’s primary.
Whoever wins the Republican vacancy nomination for the special election may have a slight advantage in the primary because their name will appear twice on the June 25 ballot. Polis said blending the two elections will save money, but voters in the 4th District may be confused about why there are two similar races on their primary ballot.
Republican and Democratic vacancy committees, made up of party insiders, will have to meet within the next few weeks to select their respective nominees for the special election. Vacancy committees are notoriously unpredictable.
Some of Boebert’s opponents in the 4th District primary have already said they will pursue their party’s special election nomination, including former state Sens. Jerry Sonnenberg and Ted Harvey, as well as conservative commentator Deborah Flora.
State Rep. Mike Lynch, another Republican primary candidate in the 4th District, said Wednesday that he hadn’t made up his mind about running for the special election nomination.
“Don’t know how they are going to conduct it really or when,” he said in a text message.
The GOP hasn’t announced when its 4th District vacancy committee will meet to select the party’s special election nominee. Republicans also haven’t said who exactly will be on the committee and how it will operate.
The Colorado Democratic Party said Tuesday it believes it has to select a nominee for the special election by April 1. The party estimates there will be 215 members on the committee.
A handful of Democrats — including veteran Ike McCorkle and substance abuse recovery advocate John Padora — were already running to represent the district when Buck abruptly announced his resignation.