Trump loyalist Lauren Boebert faces nail-biting race to keep her Colorado House seat

An ardent Trump loyalist faces a nail-biting race to retain her seat in the House as it becomes increasingly clear that her Democratic opponent was making unexpected gains.

Colorado Republican firebrand Lauren Boebert is in a tense reelection race against Democrat Adam Frisch, a former Aspen city councilor who criticized Boebert’s “angertainment” in Washington.

Almost all votes have been counted (89 percent) and while Boebert is at 49.1 percent, Frisch is at 50.9 percent.

Boebert, a Donald Trump loyalist, has established herself as a national lightning rod in her first term.

She has criticized President Biden’s approach to inflation, crime, dependence on foreign oil and border policies.

Democratic candidate for Colorado’s third congressional district Adam Frisch hoped he could influence voters

Her midterm election prospects in Colorado’s largely rural Third Congressional District seemed boosted by a realignment that made the district more Republican.

The race was too early to call early Wednesday.

At a campaign party Tuesday night at a restaurant-bar in Grand Junction, Boebert offered an extended prayer to her supporters.

She said, “We will get this victory.”

Frisch spent the evening with supporters in Aspen.

Jayson Boebert wraps his arms around his wife, Republican Congressman Lauren Boebert, as they pray at an election night party in Grand Junction, Colorado on Tuesday, Nov. 8

He said he felt good about the challenge he posed to Boebert, which was largely considered a lock for the seat until the results came in Tuesday night.

“I spent ten months trying to convince donors and journalists and political strategists everywhere that there was a way forward,” Frisch said in an interview just after midnight. ‘

“And a month ago people started to believe it, and people believed it four hours ago.”

It was no surprise to Frisch.

“I have the calm conviction that 40 percent of the Republican party wants their party back,” he said.

Frisch, a conservative Democrat, claims that Boebert sacrificed the interests of the district and instead turned to talk shows and social media to accuse Biden and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of trying to save the soul of the nation. destroy.

If elected, Frisch vowed to join a bipartisan problem solver in Congress, a sharp turn of Boebert’s rejection of aisle consensus building.

Republican State Senator Barbara Kirkmeyer and Democratic State Representative Yadira Caraveo were once again in a close race in Colorado’s new 8th congressional district, which stretches north from Denver’s to Greeley.

The race was also watched nationally as the GOP sought to reverse control of Congress.

Kirkmeyer, a former Weld County commissioner, vows to crack down on crime, unleash the district’s oil and gas industry and curb government spending. She once supported a blanket ban on abortion, but now says she would respect exceptions if the mother’s life is in danger.

Incumbent U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., speaks with a television reporter at an election night party yesterday

Caraveo is a pediatrician and abortion rights advocate who voted for police responsibility after George Floyd’s protests.

Caraveo hopes her cultural heritage as a child of Mexican immigrants will gain support in a swing district where Latinos make up nearly 40 percent of voters.

In other races, Democratic state Senator Brittany Pettersen defeated Republican Erik Aadland, an oil and gas industry veteran, in Denver’s suburban 7th district to win eight-year Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter to replace.

Aadland received backlash after a video leaked in which he questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Four-year Republican Representative Ken Buck in eastern Colorado and eight-year Republican Representative Doug Lamborn in El Paso County won re-election, as did Democratic Representatives Diana Degette, Jason Crow and Joe Neguse.

Congressman Lauren Boebert, left, and her husband Jayson Boebert campaign at an election day rally in Grand Junction yesterday

About 7 in 10 voters in Colorado say things are going in the wrong direction in the country, according to AP VoteCast, a comprehensive survey of more than 2,700 voters in the state.

The poll also shows that voters overwhelmingly disapprove of economic conditions in the US. About three-quarters say the economy isn’t that good or bad, compared to about a quarter who call it excellent or good. About a third say their family is financially behind.

The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 abortion decision, also played a role in most voters’ decisions, with about 8 in 10 citing it as a factor in casting their vote. About a quarter call it the most important factor in their vote.

According to the poll, both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were held in high regard by voters in the midterm elections. More than 6 in 10 say Biden was a factor in their vote, and a similar proportion say Trump’s.