Rep. Lauren Boebert declares victory in Colorado race

DENVER — Unofficially, the race is over. Officially, a few things have to happen before incumbent U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert is certified as the winner of her first reelection bid in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.

Boebert overcame controversy, scandal and an unexpectedly strong challenge from former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch, barely eking out a win.

Election officials tallied the last few remaining ballots in the race Friday morning, putting Boebert ahead of Frisch by just 554 votes out of 327,110 cast, a margin of 50.08% to 49.92%, according to the secretary of state’s office.

The far-right congresswoman declared victory Thursday night, posting a video on Twitter.

“We have won this race,” Boebert said. “With this victory and with Republicans in control of the House of Representatives we can focus on the issues that actually matter most, including getting inflation under control, increasing our domestic energy supply, securing our southern border and being a strong check on the White House.”

During a news conference Friday morning, Frisch said he had called Boebert to concede the race. He also thanked those who worked on his behalf and called for the politically divided country to come together and work toward “normalcy.”

“We’ve shown the country what western and southern Colorado can do,” Frisch said. “We’ve shown that extremist politicians can be defeated.”

Despite the two candidates’ acknowledgment of the race’s likely outcome, the matter isn’t yet settled in the eyes of Colorado’s election officials. First, the votes must be recounted.

Because Boebert won by so few votes, Colorado’s election law requires an automatic recount. She had to win by at least 819 votes — a number equal to half of 1% of the top vote-getter’s tally.