January 05, 2024 10:22 AM UTC

BREAKING: Rep. Doug Lamborn Is Done

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• by: Colorado Pols

UPDATE: Ernest Luning of the Colorado Springs Gazette is first to report that Colorado Republican Party chairman Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams is considering another run for the now open CD-5–after he makes one important phone call:

Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams, the former state legislator who lost a primary challenge against Lamborn in 2022, told Colorado Politics that he’s considering running again for the seat.

“Well that makes me reconsider a number of things,” Williams said in a text message. “Needless to say I’ll be making a decision very soon on my future. I’ll need to call President Trump soon.”

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That’s the breaking news this morning from Ernest Luning of the Colorado Springs Gazette, Colorado’s long-serving Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn is hanging it up after 18 years commuting to Washington:

Rep. Lamborn earned a reputation in office as an uninspiring (and frequently embarrassing) but loyal Republican who made sure the defense contractor interests in Colorado’s most military-dependent congressional district stayed well-funded. Lamborn survived a number of primary challenges over the years, most recently from now-Colorado GOP chairman Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams, but Lamborn’s compounding and persistent ethics problems have been lurking ever since the world found out Lamborn’s son was sleeping rent-free in a Capitol storage unit. If news of Lamborn’s retirement is followed up swiftly by further developments in that investigation, you’ll already know why.

Lamborn’s retirement means there will now be three red-hot Republican congressional primaries in Colorado in all of their remaining districts. Like the CD-3 seat being vacated by carpetbagging Rep. Lauren Boebert, CD-5 has a Cook PVI rating of R+9. Having said that, Democratic candidates in this district generally struggle to reach 40%, and it’s considered overall a safer Republican seat than CD-3.

Potential candidates to succeed Lamborn obviously include Williams, but CD-5 could also prove an attractive target for any number of “district shopping” candidates like 2022 losers Heidi Ganahl and Joe O’Dea, both of whom have been in the discussion to run in other districts they don’t presently live in. In O’Dea’s case in particular, a run for CD-5 makes a lot more sense than challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo in the highly competitive CD-8.

With that, we’ll pause for updates. In 2025, there’s a good chance that the entire Republican delegation will be (relatively) fresh faces, and that’s a big deal.