Boebert’s tight House race in Colorado probably headed to recount

DENVER —  Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, a controversial conservative whose combative style helped define the new right, is probably headed to an automatic recount in her bid to fend off a surprisingly difficult challenge from a Democratic businessman from the ritzy ski town of Aspen.

The Associated Press has declared the election in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District too close to call. AP will await the results of a potential recount to call the race. With nearly all votes counted, Boebert led Democrat Adam Frisch by 0.16 percentage points, or 551 votes out of nearly 327,000 votes counted.

A margin that small qualifies for an automatic recount under Colorado law in a race that has attracted national attention as Republicans try to bolster their advantage in the U.S. House after clinching a narrow majority Wednesday night.

As counties finalized unofficial results on Thursday, Boebert’s already slim lead was cut in half. All but one of the 27 counties in the district had reported final results by Thursday evening. Otero County plans to finalize its numbers on Friday.

In Colorado, a mandatory recount is triggered when the margin of votes between the top two candidates is at or below 0.5% of the leading candidate’s vote total. On Thursday, that margin was around 0.34%.

The updated results follow a hectic few days for both campaigns as they scrambled to “cure” ballots — the process of confirming voters’ choices if their ballots had been rejected in the initial count. Both the Republican and Democratic national campaign committees had people in Colorado to support the efforts.

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Although Boebert has gained widespread notoriety and a spot on the so-called “MAGA Squad,” the race headed toward a likely recount is an indication that the Trump loyalist’s provocative style has its political downsides. Until election night, the incumbent had been heavily favored to win reelection in the sprawling 3rd Congressional District after redistricting made the conservative district more Republican.

Frisch, a businessman who served on the City Council in Aspen, tried to capitalize on those downsides. The challenger’s strategy was to downplay his Democratic Party affiliation and run on a largely conservative platform in order to tap into GOP disillusionment with Boebert’s polarizing rhetoric and what he called her brand of “angertainment” — a term that he frequently repeated in public appearances and media interviews.

To Frisch, his unanticipated support points to a portion of Republicans exhausted over Boebert’s Trump-like style. Whether he wins or loses, he said, “I think 99% of the story is here.” Frisch said he had expected a close race and wouldn’t be surprised if he won. But the candidate, who attended the congressional orientation in Washington, D.C., this week for newly minted representatives, added: “We obviously can’t be surprised if we lose. We’re not that wacko.”

A spokesperson for Boebert did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Thursday.