During a livestream on the online video platform Rumble, Ms. Boebert said she did not want to ‘further imperil the already very slim House Republican majority.’
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who represents Colorado’s Third Congressional District, will not be running in the June 25 special election to succeed retiring Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) in the Fourth District for the remainder of his term.
During a livestream on the online video platform Rumble on Wednesday, Ms. Boebert said she did not want to “further imperil the already very slim House Republican majority.”
Mr. Buck’s decision to resign early and leave office on March 22, as opposed to his initial plan to serve out his term and then begin his retirement, could present an obstacle to Ms. Boebert, who is running in the Fourth District primary to replace Mr. Buck next year. The winner of the special election could have an incumbency advantage in November.
During her livestream, she said the special election and early retirement are an attempt by Washington insiders to rig the Fourth District election and end her candidacy.
“It will result in a lame-duck congressman on Day One and leave the Fourth District with no representation for more than three months,” added Ms. Boebert. “I believe that this is selfish.”
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But Ms. Boebert appeared confident that she will still be victorious in the Fourth District election.
“Put in your Ukraine-first candidate. I don’t really care,” she said. “It’s going to be a placeholder for six months, but at least there will be someone to help us keep our majority.”
Ms. Boebert, who was first elected in 2020, barely won reelection in 2022.
Buck’s Surprise Announcement
Mr. Buck announced his resignation on Tuesday.
“Today, I am announcing that I will depart Congress at the end of next week,” he said. “I look forward to staying involved in our political process, as well as spending more time in Colorado and with my family.”
“Everywhere I go in Colorado, Dana, I hear that people are not happy with Trump and they’re not happy with Biden. … We have to have better candidates, up and down the ballot, not just president, but Senate, House, local offices. We’ve got to find better ways to elect candidates and bring America together.”
Mr. Buck’s departure will leave the GOP with just 218 members and a two-seat majority in the House.
When asked why he is leaving now, given his party’s slim majority in the lower congressional chamber, he said that “it’s important to get in the mix of this election cycle and start talking about the issues that people recognize are such a problem right now.”
Mr. Buck has represented Colorado’s Fourth Congressional District since 2015.
The Colorado Republican worked on the Iran-Contra Investigation in the 1980s for then-Rep. Dick Cheney (R-Wyo.) and then became a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice before joining the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s Office. In 2004, he was elected for the first of three terms as the district attorney for Weld County.
In his resignation video, Mr. Buck said, “Americans are rightfully concerned about our nation’s future and are looking to Republicans in Washington for a course correction,” going on to assert that the country is “on a collision course with reality.”
Mr. Buck then pointed the finger at members of his own party, whom he has been unafraid to go against. He was one of three Republicans to vote against the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Last Year’s Retirement Announcement
In a Nov. 1 interview following his initial announcement that he would not seek reelection, Mr. Buck told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that one of the primary reasons was his frustration over the legislative body’s ability to get their jobs done.
“I always have been disappointed with our inability in Congress to deal with major issues,” Mr. Buck said.
In his video announcement at the time, he said he believed Republicans had suffered a “significant departure from the enduring principles of conservatives.”
“We belong to the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. … The Republican Party of today, however, is ignoring self-evident truths about the rule of law.”
The Coloradan said he believes the exceptionalism of the nation he has served for more than three decades lies in “answers developed from the government, not the government.”
Over the past few years, Mr. Buck has been vocal in his criticism of Democrats, saying that the party engages in extremist strategies in order to polarize Americans. In addition, he has criticized the implementation of critical race theory in the military and has expressed concern about the fentanyl epidemic in the United States.
Chase Smith contributed to this report.
Original News Source Link – Epoch Times
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