CNN reported Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) led by 1,122 votes on Friday afternoon, November 11, 2022, and the Associated Press said 99% of the ballots have been counted, which appeared to put an upset by Democratic challenger Adam Frisch out of reach.
On Monday, November 14, Newsweek reported (here) that Boebert leads Frisch by 162,040 votes to 160,918 votes with “nearly all” the ballots counted — but added Frisch “could still oust” Boebert if “thousands” of votes needing verified signatures are validated and break in Frisch’s favor. Many are mail-in ballots, which tend to favor Democrats.
The Washington governor’s race in 2004 was decided by signature cures. Democrat Christine Gregoire’s campaign, using 6,000 volunteers, contacted voters and validated over 700 ballots with defective signatures. She won by 133 votes.
Will that history repeat in Colorado?
However, if Boebert prevails, voters in western Colorado as elsewhere apparently care more about which party controls Congress than who represents them. By any measure, Boebert is an embarrassment, and some voters who supported her in 2020 decided to vote for her Democratic opponent in 2022, making for an unexpectedly tight race. On election night it even looked like Frisch would win.
It’s possible this race could decide House control, but right now NBC News projects a 5-seat GOP majority, so the outcome may not be crucial for either party. A Frisch victory would given Democrats the visceral satisfaction of defeating one of the obnoxious Republicans in Congress, but as of now it appears they’ll only score a near-miss.