First-term Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert narrowly defeated her Democrat challenger Adam Frisch by the slimmest of margins after a recount confirmed her victory in one of the most hotly contested races across the country.
Boebert had consistently portrayed as losing her race through election night and until all of the votes were counted. Eventually, she pulled ahead. The recount confirms her victory with just a 546 vote lead out of more than 320,000 total ballots cast.
Boebert secured 163,785 votes to Frisch’s 163,239, with the latter gaining just four total votes in the final recount.
In a tweet on December 11th, the now-victorious Boebert celebrated the House’s new Republican majority and reiterated that the party has been entrusted with making meaningful change.
“Republicans have been entrusted with the majority, and we must now prove we can take the temperature down in DC by leading not only with strength but grace,” Boebert said upon confirmation of her victory.
“Our conservative policies will help all Americans to overcome the challenges we face so each of us has the opportunity to live our very best life,” she said.
All of the counties completed their recounts, and confirmed we've won this race.
Republicans have been entrusted with the majority and we must now prove we can take the temperature down in DC by leading not only with strength but grace. pic.twitter.com/EH80Egq9UH
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) December 12, 2022
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Fox News described Boebert’s challenger as a “self-described moderate” in his effort to capture independent and middle-ground voters. Of course, anyone with a (D) behind their name is essentially a rubberstamp for radical Biden agenda items. There can hardly be anything as a moderate Democrat anymore; if they truly were moderate, they’d abandon the party altogether like Tulsi Gabbard or Krysten Sinema.
Frisch, a self-described moderate, ran a campaign that called out Boebert for “tweeting nonsense and lies” instead of working to advance legislation. He ran against what he called her “angertainment,” saying he would not back U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as party leader and described himself as a nonpartisan problem-solver.
CNN had reported as far back as November 18th – a full ten days after the election but still weeks out of his confirmed defeat – that challenger Frisch had all but conceded and was prepared to accept a narrow defeat. CNN wrote at the time:
Although there will be an automatic recount done by the Colorado secretary of state’s office, Frisch said in a live Facebook speech that he did not ask for a recount, does not expect the results to change and does not want there to be fundraising done for an essentially fruitless cause.
“The likelihood of this recount changing more than a handful of votes is very small,” Frisch remarked during his Facebook appearance. “Very, very small. It’d be disingenuous and unethical for us or any other group to continue to raise false hope and encourage fundraising for a recount,” Frisch said. “Colorado elections are safe, accurate, and secure. Please save your money for your groceries, your rent, your children, and for other important causes and organizations. I just got off the phone with Rep. Boebert. I called her to formally concede this election.”
Boebert’s closer-than-desired race is being seen as a referendum on Donald Trump and MAGA policies, as evidenced in part by the lack of a monumental red wave many predicted, but it was also the result of redistricting between her first election victory in 2020 and her second now in 2022. The new district encompassed portions of an area known more for its left-leaning residents.