Lauren Boebert rules herself out of special election for Ken Buck’s seat – because she doesn’t want to ‘confuse voters’

‘The establishment concocted a swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election I’m winning by 25 points,’ congresswoman claims

Lauren Boebert has ruled herself out of running for fellow Colorado Republican Representative Ken Buck’s seat in a special election after he leaves the lower chamber at the end of next week.

Ms Boebert, who represents Colorado’s third district, is already running for Mr Buck’s seat in November, but she has now said she’s not running to serve the rest of Mr Buck’s term in the fourth district because of the already “very slim” majority for the House Republicans.

On Tuesday, Mr Buck said he was leaving his seat on 22 March, prompting a 25 June special election, the same day as the primary to be the nominee for the seat in November.

Ms Boebert has been running for Mr Buck’s seat since he announced late last year that he wasn’t running for re-election. She chose not to run for re-election in her own seat after narrowly winning the last election and possibly facing the same rival, Democrat Adam Frisch, yet again.

She now says that the special election was called to “rig” an election that she claims she was winning.

“Ken Buck’s announcement yesterday was a gift to the uniparty,” she said on X on Wednesday afternoon, using a word used by rightwing Republicans to push back against any attempts at bipartisanship.

“The establishment concocted a swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election I’m winning by 25 points. Forcing an unnecessary Special Election on the same day as the Primary Election will confuse voters, result in a lameduck Congressman on day one, and leave the 4th District with no representation for more than three months,” she claimed.

“The 4th District deserves better. I will not further imperil the already very slim House Republican majority by resigning my current seat and will continue to deliver on my constituents’ priorities while also working hard to earn the votes of the people of Colorado’s 4th District who have made clear they are hungry for a real conservative,” she added. “I am the only Trump-endorsed, America First candidate in this race and will win the 4th District’s Primary Election on June 25th and General Election on November 5th.”

Once Mr Buck leaves the chamber, Republicans will have a 218-213 majority with four vacancies which will be filled in special elections before the general election on 5 November. The special elections are unlikely to lead to any seat changing hands – Republicans will have three vacancies and the Democrats one following Mr Buck’s departure.