Donovan drops out of 3rd District race

The Democrat who has raised by far the most money to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in 2022 has dropped out of the race.

State Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Democrat from Vail, is ending her campaign as it is now clear neither of the residences she claims — her main home in Vail and her family ranch in Edwards — will be in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District anymore.

The state Supreme Court last week approved a new congressional map drawn by an independent redistricting commission, placing both Donovan residences into the 2nd Congressional District, which is represented by Democrat Joe Neguse.

“This campaign was about standing up to hateful and divisive leadership and making sure that the West, which has big problems to solve, was represented by someone who would fight for us, not a headline,” Donovan emailed supporters.

Of the new congressional map, she wrote, “there is no viable path forward for me.”

Donovan last quarter raised about $735,000, spending most of it. No other Democrat in the 3rd District race had raised even a third of that. Other contenders there include state Rep. Donald Valdez of La Jara and Sol Sandoval of Pueblo.

Boebert enters 2022 with an even greater partisan advantage in the 3rd District than she had in 2020. Recent election results suggest a roughly nine-point Republican lean in that district under the newly approved map.

In fact, all incumbent U.S. representatives from Colorado enter 2022 with partisan advantages. The new 8th Congressional District projects to be the most competitive by far.