Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) won reelection, a recount confirmed, adding another seat to the GOP’s slim majority in the House and officially ending a saga that nearly saw the firebrand Republican overthrown in her conservative district.
Boebert won by 546 votes, according to a tally announced Monday evening by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D), as she certified the results of the 2022 general election.
The narrow margin had forced a recount under Colorado law, which requires such measures when the difference between candidates is half a percent or less. Boebert had been leading by less than that as the tallying came to a close last month.
The race in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District was not forecast to be a particularly competitive or exciting one. The district is heavily Republican and voted for President Donald Trump in 2020 by about eight percentage points.
But the showdown between Boebert — a gun-toting, far-right Republican from the working-class town of Rifle — and Adam Frisch — a conservative Democrat and former city council member in the ski town of Aspen — came closer than expected, fueling hope among Democrats in the hours after the election that Frisch may have dethroned one of the Republican Party’s loudest and most controversial voices.
Since her election in 2020, Boebert has made headlines for her remarks on subjects including gun rights and pandemic restrictions and has made baseless claims about Democrats. She also came under scrutiny for using campaign funds to pay her rent and utility bills, and for receiving an eyebrow-raising $22,259 in mileage reimbursements from her campaign.
Frisch had positioned himself as a reprieve from Boebert’s noise, writing on his campaign website that “Lauren Boebert is an anti-American, anti-Colorado show pony who can’t tell right from wrong,” and adding, “I’ll put Colorado First and keep America Strong.”
In the days after the election, however, as Boebert’s tally surpassed Frisch’s narrow lead, the Democrat conceded. On the Friday after the election, Frisch called Boebert to concede and told his supporters not to hold out hope that a recount would change the result. The recount brought Boebert’s total down by three votes and increased Frisch’s by one.
“Colorado elections are safe, accurate and secure. Please save your money for your groceries, your rent, your children, for other important causes and organizations,” Frisch said last month, urging people to stop raising funds for his campaign.
The narrow margin was enough to keep Boebert in office — and give Republicans their 222nd House seat in the next Congress — but it stood as a referendum on Boebert’s brand of conservatism in an election that saw many losses among far-right Republicans.
Boebert’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, but the lawmaker retweeted a congratulatory message celebrating the victory.
Frisch said on Twitter following the vote certification on Tuesday that, “just as we expected, the vote total didn’t shift by more than a few votes.
“I want to thank the volunteers for their efforts during this state-mandated recount,” he said. “We are all proud of Colorado’s safe and secure elections.”