Democrat Adam Frisch Concedes To Republican Lauren Boebert In Unexpectedly Close House Race

Topline

After a surprisingly close race, Democratic House candidate Adam Frisch conceded to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), a Trump ally who has been criticized for spreading baseless conspiracy theories, in a video call on Friday, sending Boebert back to Congress for a second term and solidifying the GOP’s majority in the chamber.

Adam Frisch, left, conceded to Rep. Lauren Boebert, (R-Colo.), right, after a surprisingly close … [+] House race.

Associated Press

Key Facts

Speaking in a video call on Friday, Frisch said he personally called Boebert to concede, even with the possibility of a mandatory recount, according to multiple reports.

Frisch, a former city council member in Aspen, Colorado, said that while a mandatory recount is possible, the likelihood of a recount “changing more than a handful of votes is very small.”

As of Friday, Boebert leads Frisch by 551 votes, with 50.1% of the vote (163,758 to 163,207) and 99% of ballots counted, according to the Associated Press.

Boebert, a 2020 election denier and anti-masker who has come under fire during her first two years in office for spreading baseless conspiracies, was projected to win big, according to FiveThirtyEight’s election model as well as the New York Times’ live forecast, which relies on county data to determine which candidate will receive more of the votes that had not been counted.

Frisch had been holding onto a narrow 64-vote lead over Boebert Thursday morning, until a tranche of votes that night put Boebert ahead 162,040 to 160,918 with 99% of ballots counted.

Key Background

Boebert won her first House campaign in 2020 by a wider margin, taking 51.4% of the vote, defeating Democratic challenger Diane Mitsch Bush (45.2%). The district, which has since been redrawn, leans heavily toward GOP candidates. It hasn’t elected a Democrat to Congress since 2008, and voted for Trump in 2020 (under the new boundaries, Trump would have taken it by nearly eight percentage points, according to CNN). Since taking office two years ago, Boebert has been heavily criticized for rejecting Covid-era mask mandates, making Islamophomic remarks toward Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who is Muslim, calling for a “Christian takeover,” spreading Trump’s thoroughly debunked theory that the 2020 election was rigged and tweeting information about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during the January 6 capitol insurrection, when rioters were chanting “Where’s Nancy?” Boebert, who previously owned a gun-themed restaurant in Colorado called Shooters Grill, also claimed she could carry a gun into the Capitol complex, and faced pressure to resign from Congress after she heckled President Joe Biden at the 2022 State of the Union address in January while he spoke about Afghanistan and Iraq veterans who suffered from toxic exposure from military burn pits. She also made headlines for spreading the baseless theory that elementary schools provide litter boxes for students that identify as animals and dress up as “furries”—a theory that’s drawn condemnation from LGBTQ advocacy groups who argue the claim is based in anti-trans ideology.

Contra

Boebert blamed the closer-than-expected vote numbers on a low Republican turnout and a lack of support for GOP candidates in Colorado’s Senate and gubernatorial races, telling reporters last week, “I don’t know if there wasn’t enough enthusiasm for our top ticket candidates for governor and Senate or what happened there,” the Wall Street Journal reported. She was more optimistic speaking at a campaign event on election night, saying, “we will have this victory,” as well as on Thursday when she tweeted, “Winning!”

Big Number

31%. That’s the percentage of registered voters in Colorado’s 3rd congressional district who are registered Republicans, according to the state’s redistricting commission, while 24% are Democrats and 44% are unaffiliated with a political party.

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