No change in the result of the Lauren Boebert-Adam Frisch race after mandatory recount

20221110-CD3-MESA-COUNTY-BOEBERT-COUNTRY
Hart Van Denburg/CPR News
Mesa County is part of the 3rd Congressional District, in which incumbent Republican Lauren Boebert is in a race that’s too close to call against Democrat challenger Adam Frisch. Signs of support for her in and around Grand Junction, including here along Riverside Boulevard, are hard to miss.

Colorado’s Secretary of State’s office has completed the mandatory recount of the election results between Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert and Democrat Adam Frisch in the 3rd Congressional District.

State law requires automatic recounts when a race is within 0.5 percent of the total votes cast for the winner of the race, and as expected, the recount did not change the election results. 

“The mandatory recount for U.S. Congressional District 3 and permissive recount of House District 43 are complete and have confirmed the results of the races. Colorado’s elections are safe, secure, and accurate,” said Griswold.

Boebert lost three votes and Frisch picked up one. The final difference between the two was 546 votes.

“While we hoped for a different outcome, we defied incredible odds with the closeness of this race and delivered a moral victory for the people of CO-3, many of whom crossed party lines to reject extremism with their vote,” Frisch said in a statement Monday.

“We’ve won this election as expected, and I’m headed back to represent you in Washington, D.C. I can’t thank you enough for all of your support,” Boebert said in a video released on Twitter after all the counties finished their recounts. 

But after this close call, the firebrand politician tried to strike a more conciliatory tone now that Republicans hold the majority in the chamber. She promised to “be a good listener, to take a deep breath and help take the temperature down in D.C.” 

In her first term in office, Boebert used the politics of outrage to help raise the temperature — from insisting on carrying a gun in the Capitol to heckling President Joe Biden as he spoke about his dead son. And the controversial Congresswoman has routinely made national headlines for her anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, her take on separation of church and state, attacks against Democrats, or support for former President Donald Trump rather than her advocacy for issues helping her district.

The razor-thin margin of Boebert’s victory had many involved in Colorado politics questioning how the race ended up being as close as it was.

Boebert burst on the political scene two years ago when she ousted five-term incumbent Rep. Scott Tipton in a primary. Back then, many people considered her “a breath of fresh air.”

The closeness of the race took both local and national political watchers by surprise.

Republicans hold a 9-point advantage in the vast district, which comprises most of the Western Slope and southern Colorado, and includes Grand Junction, Durango and Pueblo. Neither national party had pumped money into the seat.

Ten days after Election Day, Frisch, a businessman from Aspen, conceded the race. Still, he said it was important for the recount process to play out so Coloradans could maintain trust in the election system.

“We are not asking for this recount. It's one that the citizens of Colorado mandate through our election system. We believe in the integrity of elections in our great state of Colorado and are supportive of this recount to ensure continued faith and the security of our elections,” he said.

Republicans, however, later blasted Frisch for not officially withdrawing from the race which would have stopped the recount from occurring.

"I want to extend my deepest gratitude to my supporters as well as those who worked hard to ensure this election and recount was conducted in a fair, accurate, and highly transparent manner,” Frisch said in a statement Monday. “That includes the 27 county clerks in this district who assembled bipartisan teams to oversee the process and the hundreds of volunteers who graciously lent their time to help ensure every vote was counted. I honor and accept the certified results of the Colorado Secretary of State and wholeheartedly affirm the sanctity of Colorado elections.

Frisch did much better than the previous Democrat who ran against Boebert in 2020 and lost by six points, even though Democrats actually voted at lower rates this time around and made up less of the district’s electorate. 

Analysis shows Frisch outperformed other Democrats in the district including Sen. Michael Bennet. But he got slightly fewer votes than Gov. Jared Polis. (These figures exclude Eagle County, which can't be calculated as easily because it's split between districts.)

Frisch has already filed paperwork to run for the seat again in 2024.