Colorado congressional candidate Mike Lynch was arrested for drunken driving in 2022

DENVER — Colorado state Rep. Mike Lynch, who is also running for a seat in Congress, was arrested in 2022 on suspicion of driving under the influence and possession of a firearm while intoxicated — an episode that remained under wraps until The Denver Post reported it Wednesday .

Lynch, the Republican minority leader in the Colorado House, is running for the hotly contested U.S. House seat that Republican Rep. Ken Buck is vacating. Far-right Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert is another contender in the primary after switching congressional districts last month.

Lynch pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and was sentenced to 18 months of probation and supervised sobriety, along with a mandatory handgun safety course and a ban on possessing firearms. The sentence for the weapons charge was deferred and Lynch completed the course and completed community service.

“I just made a mistake, and you don’t learn from success, you learn from failure,” Lynch said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday. “I am a non-drinker today and intend to remain so. I own it, and thank God no one was hurt.”

As for the electoral fallout, Lynch said, “I believe people understand that no one is perfect.”

The candidate was clocking 90 mph (145 km/h) on a highway north of Fort Collins, Colorado, on September 30, 2022, when Trooper Matthew King pulled him over and smelled alcohol, according to a Colorado State Patrol report obtained by The Denver . After.

The report details how Lynch told King he was a supporter of law enforcement and asked the trooper to call the Colorado State Patrol legislative liaison at the Capitol. Lynch thought about it again when King said he didn’t know who that was.

Lynch said he was not trying to undermine his status to avoid repercussions, but instead wanted to give those he works with a warning.

According to The Denver Post, his blood alcohol content was about double the state limit of 0.08%.