Comment Rep. Lauren Bobert, a far-right Republican from Colorado, was locked in a race that was too close and within the threshold for an automatic recount, The Associated Press predicted Thursday, leaving the outcome of a surprisingly competitive election in a conservative congressional district in doubt. With nearly all votes counted, Bobert led Democrat Adam Fries by 0.16 percentage points, the AP reported. Under state law, the mandatory recount must be completed no later than 35 days after the election, which is Dec. 13. Bobert’s lead was 551 votes out of nearly 327,000 votes counted, the AP reported. The AP said it would await the results of a possible count before calling the fight. The race in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District — a large western state district — was a showdown between Bobert, a gun-toting Republican from the working-class Colorado River town of Rifle, and Frisch, a conservative Democrat from the bustling ski town of aspen. Former President Donald Trump won the district by about eight percentage points in 2020, helping open what was seen as a clear path to victory for Bobert in the largely rural district. GOP Rep. Boebert: ‘I’m tired of this separation of church and state garbage’ But the fight ended up being closer than many expected. Fries, a former Aspen city councilman, had framed his campaign as a suspension from unrest about Boebert, describing himself as a “candidate to beat Lauren Boebert.” “Lauren Boebert is an anti-American, anti-Colorado show pony who can’t tell right from wrong,” Frisch said on his campaign website. “I have spent my career as a successful entrepreneur. Now I am running for Congress to reduce inflation and create local economic growth and jobs. I will put Colorado first and keep America strong.” Since her 2020 election, Bobert has made national headlines for her remarks on everything from gun rights to pandemic restrictions to unsubstantiated claims about Democrats. She also came under scrutiny for using campaign funds to pay her rent and utility bills and for receiving $22,259 in mileage reimbursements from her campaign. Last year, a group of Democratic lawmakers called for Bobert to be removed from her committee duties after she made an Islamophobic remark about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). “You know, we’re leaving the Capitol and we’re walking back to my office and we get into an elevator and I see a Capitol Police officer running toward the elevator,” Bobert told a crowd at an event in her district last November. . “I see agitation all over his face, and he’s coming, and the door is closing, like I can’t open it, like what’s going on. I look to my left and there it is. Ilhan Omar. And I said, “Well, he doesn’t have a backpack, we should be fine.” “ Bobert later apologized “to anyone in the Muslim community that I offended,” but refused to publicly apologize to Omar, instead doubling down on her Islamophobic attacks. In March, Bobert pushed back against President Biden during his State of the Union address as he mentioned the dangers facing American troops, including cancer, the disease that killed Beau’s son in 2015. “When they returned home, many of the world’s strongest and best-trained warriors were never the same. Headaches. Numbness. Dizziness,” Biden said. “A cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin. I know. One of those soldiers was my son, Major Beau Biden.” “American warriors in flag-draped coffins,” the president added. “Thirteen of them!” Bobert shouted, referring to the American soldiers killed during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan. She was frowned upon and cut by others. One Democrat yelled, “Get her out!” Amy Gardner and Mariana Alfaro contributed to this report.
