Ken Buck slams ‘ridiculous’ claims he’s resigning to hurt Boebert’s election chances

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) has denounced claims that he is resigning from Congress to hinder Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-Colo.) chances of winning the 4th Congressional District seat.

Buck initially announced last year that he would not run for re-election. He announced his early retirement from Congress on Tuesday, and a special election was held to fill his seat.

Boebert characterized Buck’s decision as “weak sauce” and called it “a gift to the Unionist Party.”

“The establishment concocted a swampy backroom deal in an attempt to rig an election that I won by 25 points,” she said in comments earlier this week.

Mr. Buck fired back Thursday. tell The Colorado Sun called it “ridiculous” to claim that Boebert’s early resignation was intended to make it harder for her to win after she became a candidate in the district. Buck also said he does not intend to “advantage or disadvantage anyone” in his district’s campaign.

“I’ve been doing my best to stay out of this primary,” he told Colorado Press.

Buck also said he wanted the special election to overlap with the primary election scheduled for June 25, explaining his decision to announce his early retirement.

“I thought that was really important,” Buck said.

Boebert said she chose not to run in the special election and to focus on the primary.

“Forcing an unnecessary special election on the same day as the primary will confuse voters, create a lame-duck representative from day one, and leave the 4th District unrepresented for more than three months,” she said. Stated. “District 4 deserves better.”

Boebert is in a tough political position. Her switch to the 4th District is seen by some as an attempt to avoid defeat to Democrat Adam Frisch, who ran a close race against her in 2022 but ultimately lost.

In special elections, each party ultimately selects candidates to represent the remaining districts in the current term. It will be held on the same day as the state primary, giving Republicans an advantage no matter who they choose. Ms. Boebert would have to vacate her 3rd District seat to qualify for the special election, which would shrink the Republican majority in the House, which had already shrunk with Ms. Buck’s resignation.