Boebert's lead over Frisch widens in CD-3 race with latest Pueblo County results

Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert widened her lead over Democratic challenger Adam Frisch Thursday night.

Boebert was still up by 1,122 votes across Colorado's 3rd Congressional District after 3,318 additional ballots in Pueblo County were reported. Frisch picked up just 14 votes in Pueblo after the last data dump at 9:40 p.m.

Those reported Thursday night are the last results Pueblo will report until late next week after compiling all of the ballots that continue to roll in for military/overseas voters, as well as ballots with signature discrepancies that have been corrected.

Full information about cured ballots will be posted Friday to the Pueblo elections website by the supervisor of elections in Pueblo.

Many offices in Colorado, including Pueblo, will be closed Friday in observance of Veterans Day.

Pueblo, La Plata and Gunnison counties reported thousands of new ballots within a short timeframe Thursday afternoon.

Frisch's lead in Pueblo, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by nearly 12,000, also shrunk over the course of the day. He had 53.2% of the votes as of Thursday night.

Pueblo Republicans cast twice as many in-person ballots as Democrats, according to statistics from the Colorado Secretary of State. Registered Republicans constitute 38% of in-person ballots but represent just 24% of active registered voters in the county.

Frisch was leading Election Day and maintained a razor-thin margin over Boebert through Thursday morning. Before the Otero County results were uploaded, Frisch was leading by only 62 votes.

Colorado's 3rd Congressional District has a nine-point Republican advantage, which increased after redistricted maps were finalized in 2021.

Election judges came back to election headquarters at 9 a.m. Thursday to continue manually processing mail ballots and double-check signatures in bipartisan teams, per Colorado’s election rules.

After building an early lead Tuesday, Frisch's advantage shrank overnight as more ballots were reported in Mesa County, and it was further narrowed Wednesday morning to just 2,449 votes. Frisch's lead narrowed again after additional votes were reported in Pueblo County, the largest by population in CD-3, with nearly 170,000 residents.

More:With all eyes on Pueblo County, clerk Ortiz calls for patience for Frisch, Boebert results

In a news release early Wednesday afternoon, Frisch thanked supporters and said while the campaign is still waiting for every vote to be counted, "the lead we hold this morning is because of the support of each and every one of you."

“We entered this race in February with the intention to give Colorado a representative that will actually work for the district and the people," Frisch said in the release. "We traveled 23,000 miles, made hundreds of thousands of calls, spoke to as many voters as possible, and yes, we flooded your inboxes as well. But it worked, and now we are one step closer to beating Lauren Boebert.”

More:Adam Frisch: 5 things to know about the Democrat looking to upset Lauren Boebert

Frisch’s statement went on to say that his campaign still has “a lot of work ahead as ballots are still being counted.”

“Hopefully soon, Coloradans and Americans alike can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that there is one less extremist in office," he said.

Boebert did not address whether or not she would concede the election in response to a question from Chieftain news partner KRDO News Channel 13 at her watch party in Grand Junction on Tuesday night.

"I don’t believe that we will lose Colorado's 3rd District. I look forward to being the Congresswoman once again in a second term," Boebert said.

3rd District race info:CD3 candidates Boebert and Frisch share views on what they'd do to serve Pueblo

Boebert has a national presence and is one of the most conservative members of Congress. She is an ardent supporter of former President Donald Trump, who endorsed her during the primary.

Montrose state Sen. Don Coram, who ran as a pragmatic moderate, defeatedly lost to Boebert in June. Coram endorsed Frisch in the general election.

Frisch, a businessman from Aspen, hoped to capture some of Coram’s Republican supporters and unaffiliated voters in CD-3.

Boebert’s campaign rhetoric centered around House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and expanding domestic energy production. Frisch attacked Boebert’s legislative record and emphasized his business background.

Colorado’s 3^rd Congressional District includes most of the Western Slope, the San Luis Valley and Pueblo.

Frisch bested Pueblo community organizer Sol Sandoval in the primary in June. Sandoval later endorsed Frisch and worked for his campaign.

Boebert raised $6.7 million over the past two years, and Frisch recorded $5.2 million going into his campaign since he entered the race in early 2022. Over $2 million of that was loans made by Frisch to his own campaign — he’s repaid $1.5 million of that to himself.

In 2020, Boebert narrowly lost in Pueblo County to Democratic challenger Diane Mitsch Bush, but Boebert won the entire district with 51.4% of votes.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Boebert leading Frisch by 1,100 votes in CD-3 race