Rep. Lauren Boebert won Tuesday’s Republican primary in Colorado in a race that she jumped into last year.
Newsmax and DecisionDesk HQ called the race for Boebert, who had 43.3% of the vote with 75% of precincts reporting. In two other closely watched GOP primary contests, DecisionDesk HQ called the races for Attorney Jeff Hurd in the third congressional district, a seat currently held by Boebert, 42% of the vote and 76% of precincts reporting; and political consultant and talk radio host Jeff Crank in the fifth district with 67.4% of the vote and 75% of precincts reporting.
Boebert beat a group of more traditional, homegrown primary candidates who had far less name recognition and generally less combative political styles: former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg; current state Reps. Mike Lynch and Richard Holtorf; and parental rights advocate Deborah Flora.
Boebert is expected to also win the November general election in the district, which sweeps across a wide expanse of ranches, ghost towns and conservative parts of the Denver metro area that make up much of the plains of eastern Colorado. Its voters overwhelmingly backed former President Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
Boebert said she switched districts to ensure another Republican could win her seat, which she nearly lost in 2022, and she blamed outside groups for targeting her. But she had already become a fundraising magnet for that other district’s Democratic candidate, Adam Frisch, who has pulled in millions that could help him flip a seat that has leaned Republican in recent years.
Boebert entered her election night gathering in the evening toting a pair of reflective gold sneakers sold by Trump and a white “Make America Great Again” hat with his signature across the bill.
The seat opened up after Republican Rep. Ken Buck resigned from Congress. In a special election Tuesday to fill the remaining months of Buck’s term, DecisionDesk HQ declared Republican Greg Lopez, a former mayor of the city of Parker, defeated Democrat Trisha Calvarese and two other candidates.
Another GOP House race watched closely on the national level was Colorado's eighth district, newly minted after redistricting in 2021 and hotly contested with voters roughly split between the two major parties.
DecisionDesk HQ declared Republican state Rep. Gabe Evans, a former police officer, the winner over former state Rep. Janak Joshi, a retired physician, in the race to challenge Democratic incumbent Yadira Caraveo. Caraveo won the eighth district, which stretches north of Denver, by fewer than 2,000 votes in 2022.