Republican Lauren Bobert entered a tight race Wednesday in her bid for re-election to a U.S. House seat in Colorado against Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, a businessman and former city councilman from the upscale, mostly liberal ski town of Aspen. Bobert’s contest in Colorado’s sprawling 3rd Congressional District has been watched nationally as Republicans try to wrest control of the U.S. House in the midterm elections. The Donald Trump loyalist established herself as a partisan flashpoint in Washington, D.C., in her first term and was favored to win re-election after redistricting made the conservative and mostly rural conservative district more Republican. Fries claims that Bobert sacrificed the interests of her constituents for frequent “outrages” accusing President Joe Biden and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of trying to destroy the nation’s soul. He vowed to join the bipartisan “Problem Solving Caucus” in Congress, a sharp shift from Bobert’s repudiation of consensus-building across the aisle. Frisch said in an interview early Wednesday that the close contest was no surprise. “I spent 10 months trying to convince donors and journalists and political strategists everywhere that there was a path forward,” Fries said. “I have this calm belief that 40 percent of the Republican Party wants their party back.” “We’re going to have this victory,” Bobert said at a campaign event late Tuesday in Grand Junction. Jayson Boebert hugs his wife, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, as they pray during an election party in Grand Junction, Colo., Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post via AP) Republican state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer and Democratic state Rep. Yadira Caraveo are locked in another tight race in Colorado’s new 8th Congressional District, which stretches north from the Denver suburbs to Greeley. This match, too, was watched nationally. Kirkmeyer, a former Weld County commissioner, is committed to tackling crime and freeing up the oil and gas industry, which has a significant presence in the area. He once supported a blanket ban on abortion, but now says he would respect exceptions if the mother’s life is at risk. Caraveo is a pediatrician and abortion rights advocate who voted for police accountability after the George Floyd protests. Caraveo hopes her cultural background as the child of Mexican immigrants will draw support in a swing district where Latinos make up nearly 40 percent of voters. In suburban Denver’s 7th District, Democratic State Sen. Brittany Pettersen defeated first-time Republican Erik Aadland to succeed eight-term Democratic Rep. Ed Perlmutter. Democrats Diana Degette, Jason Crow and Joe Neguse won re-election, as did Republicans Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn. Both President Biden and former President Trump were on the minds of voters in the midterm elections, according to AP VoteCast, an extensive survey of more than 2,700 voters in the state. More than 6 in 10 say Biden was a factor in their vote, and a similar percentage say the same for Trump. About 7 in 10 voters in Colorado say things in the country are going in the wrong direction. The poll also shows voters overwhelmingly disapprove of economic conditions in the U.S. About three-quarters say the state of the economy is either not so good or bad, compared with about a quarter who call it excellent or good. About a third say their family is falling behind financially. The Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision on abortion, also played a role in most voters’ decisions, with about 8 in 10 citing it as a factor in how they voted. About a quarter call it the most important factor in their vote. Associated Press writer Colleen Slevin contributed to this report Jesse Bedayn is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative corps. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places reporters in local newsrooms to report on undercover issues.
