DENVER (KDVR) — The race between incumbent Republican Lauren Boebert and her Democratic opponent Adam Frisch remains tight. Now, the congresswoman has taken back the lead after additional ballots were counted Thursday.
At the latest drop around 10:13 a.m. Friday, Boebert led with 162,040 votes to Frisch’s 160,918, results for the 3rd Congressional District show, and that remained unchanged over the weekend.
Boebert’s lead grew to 1,229 votes on Thursday afternoon, but it’s tightened slightly in the last two counts to 1,122. The latest vote drop came from Pueblo County. Counts from earlier in the evening came from La Plata, Gunnison and Pueblo counties.
The AP has an estimated 98% of votes counted in the 3rd District race as of 4:37 p.m. Sunday.
On Sunday morning, Frisch tweeted that counting ballots is taking so much time because the state is adhering to the rules for military and overseas ballots to be included. The deadline for those votes is Wednesday.
“Then on Thursday and Friday the counties will bring in their bipartisan poll watching teams, required under Colorado law, to oversee all ballot counts. That’s why we’re not expecting to see any new results until Thursday or Friday, when all ballots should be counted,” Frisch said in his tweet.
Boebert, Frisch face off on the Western Slope
The race has centered largely on Boebert herself. The former restaurateur has been a consistent firebrand since her 2020 election. She has maintained a fierce devotion to former President Donald Trump, his positions and his brand of politics, including denying the legitimacy of President Joe Biden.
Boebert has been the center of several controversies, including using campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, trying to bring a firearm into the U.S. Capitol, referring to her Republican primary opponent Don Coram as a “groomer” and referring to Rep. Ilhan Omar as a member of the “jihad squad.”
Locally, she has embraced conservative positions on crime, education, economy and immigration. She supports the development of oil and gas on Colorado public lands. She wants to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and prohibit critical race theory in school curricula. A staunch gun rights activist, she opposed the passage of so-called red flag laws in Colorado that give police the ability to take firearms from citizens under certain circumstances.
Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman, campaigned as an antidote to divisive Trumpian politics. In advertisements, he referred to himself as a “conservative” and downplayed his Democratic Party affiliation.
While he is a supporter of abortion rights, Frisch has campaigned to favor private industry for solutions to problems such as healthcare and debt. He opposed Biden’s plan to forgive federal student loans and wants health care to become more affordable through private marketplaces rather than government intervention.