Colorado’s governor has scheduled a special election for a congressional seat after the abrupt resignation of Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) has said she’s not sure she will participate.
That’s the same date voters will choose who wins the primary for the seat representing Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District, among other seats.
The alignment is to “minimize taxpayer cost,” Mr. Polis, a Democrat, said in a statement.
Under the U.S. Constitution, states hold special elections when a vacancy arises in the House of Representatives.
Under Colorado law, a special election must be held between 85 days and 100 days after a vacancy occurs. State law also requires that special elections not be held within 90 days of a general election.
Boebert Responds
During an online fundraising event, Ms. Boebert said Mr. Buck’s leaving early “is kind of swampy” and that aligning the special election and primary election “has a lot of potential to confuse voters.”She said later that she’s “not making any official statement” as to whether she'll run in the special election and that she’s concerned about opening up a possible vacancy in her district. She said she prefers that local Republicans pick a person who isn’t running in the primary and that their selection fill the vacancy that occurs when Mr. Buck resigns.
“We’re all figuring this out,” Ms. Boebert said. “We’re talking to the vacancy committee, seeing what their plan is, seeing if they have someone who’s not a candidate who’s going to run in the special.”
The crowded primary for the fourth district seat includes about a dozen Republicans.
Ms. Boebert currently represents Colorado’s Third Congressional District. Under redistricting, that district has shifted from deep red toward the middle. It now has about 7 percent more Republicans than Democrats, according to the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commission.
The fourth district leans much more heavily toward Republicans. It has about 19.5 percent more Republicans than Democrats.
“[Switching districts is] the right move for me personally, and it’s the right decision for those who support our conservative movement,” Ms. Boebert said in 2023 while announcing the move.
Why Buck Resigned
Mr. Buck had said he would be leaving Congress at the end of his term, but his abrupt resignation before the term ended triggered a special election and shrank the GOP majority in the lower chamber to just five seats. He said he feels the House has become dysfunctional and indicated that he’s set to get a new job.“I think there’s a job out there that I want to go do,” Mr. Buck said. “I think we need to change our electoral laws here and I have a passion for that and I am going to lead and I am going to find the right organization to join and I’m going to start working on that issue.”
Mr. Polis said that Mr. Buck “has shown his deep commitment” to improving public safety and serving the nation.
State Rep. Richard Holtorf, a Republican running to represent the fourth district, said of the abrupt resignation, “[It is] another selfish move by Congressman Buck, who has long forgotten about his role as a federal representative and Republican leader in Colorado.”
