{"id":28705,"date":"2024-03-13T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lauren-boebert-wont-pursue-special-election-nomination-to-replace-ken-buck-after-his-abrupt-resignation\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T06:37:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T06:37:58","slug":"lauren-boebert-wont-pursue-special-election-nomination-to-replace-ken-buck-after-his-abrupt-resignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lauren-boebert-wont-pursue-special-election-nomination-to-replace-ken-buck-after-his-abrupt-resignation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lauren Boebert won\u2019t pursue special election nomination to replace Ken Buck after his abrupt resignation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Republican
Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado speaks during a debate May 26 at the Sky Ute Resort and Casino in Ignacio. (William Woody for Colorado Newsline)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert said Wednesday that she will not pursue the Republican special election nomination to replace U.S. Rep. Ken Buck in Colorado\u2019s 4th Congressional District after he departs Congress at the end of next week.<\/p>\n

Boebert is still running, however, in the Republican primary to be the GOP nominee for the November election in the 4th District.<\/p>\n

In a written statement, Boebert called Buck\u2019s resignation \u201ca swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election\u201d for her opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cForcing an unnecessary special election on the same day as the primary election will confuse voters, result in a lame duck congressman on day one, and leave the 4th District with no representation for more than three months,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe 4th District deserves better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boebert, who currently represents Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, added: \u201cI will not further imperil the already very slim House Republican majority by resigning my current seat and will continue to deliver on my constituents\u2019 priorities while also working hard to earn the votes of the people of Colorado\u2019s 4th District who have made clear they are hungry for a real conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the congresswoman\u2019s decision also is an acknowledgment that her selection as the special election nominee was not certain \u2013 a nod to how her switch last year to the 4th District from the 3rd District was not met with universal celebration.<\/p>\n

Buck surprised the political world Tuesday when he announced he would resign March 22 instead of when his term ends in January 2025, shrinking Republicans\u2019 already razor-thin majority in the U.S. House. Buck had already said he would not run for reelection this fall.<\/p>\n

The news also scrambled this year\u2019s GOP primary in the 4th District, which is a Republican stronghold that includes Douglas County and Loveland and spans across Colorado\u2019s Eastern Plains.<\/p>\n

The winner of the primary is almost guaranteed to win the general election in November because of the district\u2019s makeup.<\/p>\n

Gov. Jared Polis said he intends to schedule the special election to replace Buck for the rest of his term for June 25, the same day as Colorado\u2019s primary.<\/p>\n

Whoever wins the Republican vacancy nomination for the special election may have a slight advantage in the primary because their name will appear twice on the June 25 ballot. Polis said blending the two elections will save money, but voters in the 4th District may be confused about why there are two similar races on their primary ballot.<\/p>\n

Republican and Democratic vacancy committees, made up of party insiders, will have to meet within the next few weeks to select their respective nominees for the special election. Vacancy committees are notoriously unpredictable.<\/p>\n

Some of Boebert\u2019s opponents in the 4th District primary have already said they will pursue their party\u2019s special election nomination, including former state Sens. Jerry Sonnenberg and Ted Harvey, as well as conservative commentator Deborah Flora.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Mike Lynch, another Republican primary candidate in the 4th District, said Wednesday that he hadn\u2019t made up his mind about running for the special election nomination.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t know how they are going to conduct it really or when,\u201d he said in a text message.<\/p>\n

The GOP hasn\u2019t announced when its 4th District vacancy committee will meet to select the party\u2019s special election nominee. Republicans also haven\u2019t said who exactly will be on the committee and how it will operate.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Democratic Party said Tuesday it believes it has to select a nominee for the special election by April 1. The party estimates there will be 215 members on the committee.<\/p>\n

A handful of Democrats \u2013 including veteran Ike McCorkle and substance abuse recovery advocate John Padora \u2013 were already running to represent the district when Buck abruptly announced his resignation.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boebert is still running, however, in the Republican primary to be the GOP nominee for the November election in the 4th Congressional District<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,28,265,367],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-28705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-headlines","tag-politics","tag-u-s-rep-lauren-boebert"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28705"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80506,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28705\/revisions\/80506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28705"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=28705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}