OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Rep. Lauren Boebert on Monday continued to maintain a thin lead over her Democratic challenger on Monday in her bid to win a second term following redistricting in Colorado that made her district more competitive.
As of Monday afternoon, Boebert led Adam Frisch by 1,122 in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. Political analysis site FiveThirtyEight gave her a 97-percent chance of holding the seat in its last election update on Nov. 8, Election Day. The seat has traditionally been Republican.
Still, at the moment, Frisch is running neck and neck with Boebert.
“Frisch has 160,918 votes, or 49.83 percent, versus 162,040 votes and 50.17 percent for Boebert, as of Monday afternoon, when the last update was given,” Newsweek reported, adding:
More results are expected to be announced on Wednesday, while counting must finish on Friday at the latest, according to Colorado’s election calendar. County canvassing boards must release their final results by November 30, though if the winning margin is less than 0.5 percent, there will be an automatic recount, with the result not announced till mid-December. Wednesday is a key date, marking the deadline for both military and overseas votes to come in, and for problem ballots to be “cured.”
Clearly, Boebert is in a dogfight to keep her Colorado seat red.
The Republican lawmaker’s battle against Frisch is so close, in fact, it likely will come down to a recount, though Boebert is maintaining a slight lead.
According to The Associated Press, she was up by around 1,100 votes late Saturday afternoon, leading with 50.17% of the vote to Frisch’s 49.83%. Under Colorado election law, victories of less than a half-percent trigger a mandatory recount, which could take another several weeks, as they must be conducted within 35 days of the general election, meaning by Dec. 13.
Frisch said in a tweet on Saturday that election officials are still waiting for several thousand ballots from U.S. military members.
“Looks like we are likely heading to a recount as the margin of this race is so close,” Frisch said. “We are still waiting on thousands of ballots to come in from overseas and the military as well as those that need signature and technical verification.”
Looks like we are likely heading to a recount as the margin of this race is so close.
We are still waiting on thousands of ballots to come in from overseas and the military as well as those that need signature and technical verification. https://t.co/MRIugwvQ5v
— Adam Frisch for CD-3 (@AdamForColorado) November 11, 2022
Boebert noted in a Friday tweet: “As this race comes down to every last vote, I need you to help us ensure we have the resources to finish what we started! I told you all year, the Left would do everything that they possibly could to get rid of me.”
Fox News Digital noted further:
Boebert, who founded Shooters Restaurant in Rifle, Colorado — which became famous for its gun-toting waitresses — campaigned on her conservative message, and criticized Frisch for being out of touch with most voters in the district, which includes mostly rural towns in the west and southwest of Colorado. Frisch is a former member of the city council in Aspen, Colorado, home to ski resorts and a retreat for wealthy families from across the globe.
Also Friday, Boebert put Democrats ‘on notice,’ warning them she will be around to “fire” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“There’s no doubt I was a target for the Democrats, but I am confident once all of the ballots are counted, I will win, and I will be there to help fire Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House,” she said.
“I don’t know if there wasn’t enough enthusiasm for our top ticket candidates for governor and Senate or what happened there. But there was a lot of shifting of the votes there,” she continued. “Of course, I expect to win.
“I think Polis and Bennet definitely carried the ticket for the Democrat Party,” she said of Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic Sen. Michael Bennett.
Colorado election officials assured residents that the established rules would be followed.
“We need to be able to process the rest of the ballots, and then after that, we will do a bipartisan risk-limiting audit which confirms the results followed by a bipartisan canvas, and then, only then, do I certify the election and it’s determined whether we go into recount,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said Thursday. “We are a couple of weeks out from that determination.”
