November 10, 2022 12:03 PM UTC

Counting To Determine Lauren Boebert's Fate Grinds On

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE #2: Watch out, Lauren Boebert is throwing fellow Republicans under the bus:

Rep. Lauren Boebert, who is locked in an unexpectedly tight race with Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, said a lack of enthusiasm for other Republicans on the ballot may have cost her support https://t.co/DNKRjjAUH6

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) November 10, 2022

The problem couldn’t possibly be Boebert. That’s inconceivable!

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UPDATE: The latest statement from Adam Frisch as counting goes on:

The race to represent Colorado’s third congressional district is still too close to call with thousands of ballots, including from the military and overseas, remaining to be counted. On Thursday, Rep. Boebert’s opponent Adam Frisch issued the following statement:

“Everyone in this district deserves to have their voice heard, regardless of political affiliation, and I am confident that each and every valid ballot will be counted,” Frisch said. “In particular, we must honor and respect those who serve our country by ensuring that every military ballot is taken into account. Every vote matters in this incredibly close race and thousands of votes in Pueblo County and from military and overseas voters remain, and a considerable number of curable ballots remain as well. It is crucial for our democracy to count every vote and I have full confidence in the 27 county clerks in this district to conduct a fair count. While I remain confident, I will ultimately respect the results of this election regardless of the outcome.”

“The closeness of this race is a testament to the fact that the people of Western and Southern Colorado are growing tired of the angertainment industry that Boebert is a part of and want a representative who will fight for bipartisan solutions to the issues facing their families, their businesses, and communities,” Frisch added.

Boebert is lagging far behind expectations in CO-3, a district that election prognosticators and pundits widely considered to be safe for Boebert, particularly after a redistricting process that favored Republicans. The district favors Republicans by 7 points and elected President Trump by a 15 point margin in 2016. Voters in the district haven’t elected a Democrat to Congress since 2008. The historically close race points to the ability of Frisch, a conservative businessman, to build a coalition of Republican, Democrat, and Unaffiliated voters.

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The Pueblo Chieftain’s Anna Lynn Winfrey has the latest on ballot-counting in Colorado’s CD-3 race, where Democratic challenger Adam Frisch has led incumbent freshman GOP carnival of crazy Rep. Lauren Boebert by a steadily narrowing margin…until this morning:

Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert has now taken the lead from Democratic challenger Adam Frisch as thousands of votes are still being counted in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.

A new batch of data from Otero County, a rural community east of Pueblo, put Boebert up over Frisch by 386 votes.

Frisch was leading Election Day and maintained a razor-thin margin over Boebert through Thursday morning. Before the Otero County results were uploaded, Frisch was leading by only 62 votes.

Even though Boebert has pulled narrowly ahead with updates from small but deep-red Otero County, this thing is far from over:

Results from approximately 7,000 additional ballots are expected today from Pueblo County, the largest in the district by population. Frisch is up in Pueblo, with 54% of votes.

7,000 more ballots to drop in Pueblo could be enough if the current margins hold to flip the race back to Frisch. There is also reportedly some number of ballots yet to be counted in Pitkin County, Frisch’s home base and breaking heavily in his direction. Yesterday, 9NEWS’ Kyle Clark asserted that his team’s analysis of the remaining ballots to be counted indicates Frisch will prevail:

UPDATE: Democrat Adam Frisch is poised to upset Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert in CO-3, based on a 9NEWS analysis of remaining ballots, which are largely in counties where Frisch holds strong leads. #copolitics

— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) November 10, 2022

The sweeping victory for Colorado Democrats this year reached by what any reasonable pre-election analysis would have considered the best-case scenario with the secession concession of Republican Barb Kirkmeyer in Colorado’s brand-new CD-8. Even with Adam Frisch running a strong campaign and polling within striking distance, few expected Frisch to actually be in a position to oust Boebert in this Republican-leaning district. Whatever happens now, Frisch has blown away Boebert’s presumption of invulnerability after easily beating her Republican primary challenger Don Coram.

If Boebert survives this incredibly close race in what was supposed to be an adverse election year for Democrats, she’ll be a top target in 2024 now, perhaps from Frisch himself. But if Boebert does lose–and accepts the loss, of course–it’s the capstone achievement in an already historic election for Colorado Democrats. There would be nothing more Democrats could realistically have won in Colorado this year.

It would also be the end of an embarrassment to all of Colorado, without partisan distinction.

We’ll update with new developments as they come in. Stay tuned.