Challenger of GOP firebrand concedes

Democrat Adam Frisch conceded Friday in his tight U.S. House race against Republican Lauren Boebert that is likely headed to a recount, but his challenge highlighted how his surprisingly strong showing revealed that Republican voters in the Colorado district are tiring of Boebert’s brash style.

The Associated Press has declared the election in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District too close to call. AP will await the results of a potential recount to call the race. With nearly all votes counted, the incumbent Boebert leads Frisch by about 0.17 percentage points, or 554 votes out of over 327,000 votes counted.

“America is tired of the circus, tired of the lack of respect for our institutions and democracy, and tired of the lack of civility in our discourse,” Frisch said.

Pundits and the political establishment had largely thought Frisch’s campaign futile, but the thin margin is its own small victory for Frisch. He said he supports the recount but that it would be unrealistic to think it would flip enough votes for him to win. He called Boebert to concede.

In Colorado, a mandatory recount is triggered when the margin of votes between the top two candidates is at or below 0.5% of the leading candidate’s vote total. On Friday, that margin was around 0.34%.

The close margin for Boebert, one of Congress’s staunchest supporters of former President Donald Trump, was the latest indication that Trump’s influence on Republican voters could be waning amid a nationwide fight over the direction of the Republican Party. It is a question some Republican leaders raised in partly blaming Trump for their dismal midterm results even as the former president forged ahead in launching his 2024 presidential bid.