Lauren Boebert wins Republican primary in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District

Incumbent Rep. Lauren Boebert is the winner of the Republican primary in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District.

Results from the Colorado Secretary of State show Boebert beat primary challenger Don Coram with nearly two-thirds of the vote.

Coram lost his home county of Montrose at a similar rate to the rest of the district, getting approximately 37% of votes. Boebert still won her home county, Garfield County, but at a lower rate than the rest of the district.

Boebert handily won Pueblo County with more than three-quarters of ballots cast in her favor. She won most counties in the district, with just seven — some of the wealthiest areas in CD-3 encompassing high-elevation resort communities — going for Coram.

"I'm thrilled the voters showed their confidence in me to continue being their Representative ... Conservative Republicans like me are going to help take back the House in November, fire Nancy Pelosi, and do all we can to get our country back on track," Boebert said in a statement on Twitter.

ON THE DEMOCRAT'S SIDE: Adam Frisch leads in Democratic primary for 3rd Congressional District

Coram thanked his supporters in a video posted to his campaign Facebook page.

"If we don't get our house in order and elect people honored with honor and integrity, this nation will not survive," Coram said. "Stay tuned, you never know what's going to happen next," he added with a smile.

Since unseating incumbent Republican Scott Tipton two years ago, Boebert, of Silt, has made a name for herself in the national media as a conservative firebrand aligned with former President Donald Trump, who endorsed her in the race.

Coram announced his candidacy in January. The state senator from Montrose, with prior experience at the state house and a background in ranching, campaigned on his record of collaborating with Democrats at the Colorado Assembly, which Boebert attacked throughout the campaign.

While reaching out to Democrats and unaffiliated voters was not directly part of his campaign strategy, supporters had hoped to leverage Colorado’s open primary system to unseat Boebert.

MORE RESULTS: Here's who's leading in the 2022 Pueblo County primary election as of Wednesday afternoon

Under Colorado’s model, which has been in place since 2018, unaffiliated voters can cast a ballot in either primary, but people registered to a party receive only their own party's ballot.

In Pueblo County, the amount of unaffiliated voters increased by 1,786 between January and June of this year, while the amount of registered Democrats dropped by 160 and registered Republicans went down by 36.

An analysis from Colorado Public Radio found that in the entire 3rd Congressional District, approximately 8,000 Democrats changed to unaffiliated.

Boebert has far exceeded Coram in campaign fundraising, amassing over $5 million in contributions since January 2021. Since Coram announced his candidacy six months ago, he has raised just shy of $229,000.

Boebert raised nearly $3 million campaigning for her seat two years ago, including $3,000 from the Pueblo County Republican Party.

Campaign records show that the local GOP chapter has not donated to Boebert or Coram in this election cycle.

The Democratic nominee will face an uphill battle against Boebert in November: once-a-decade redistricting, finalized last year, increased the GOP's leg up in the district to a 9-point advantage.

STATEWIDE RESULTS: Get 2022 Colorado primary election results

Anna Lynn Winfrey can be reached by email at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter @annalynnfrey. 

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Lauren Boebert wins GOP primary in Colorado 3rd Congressional District