DENVER — Adam Frisch gained enough votes Thursday to narrow U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s lead in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District to the point an automatic recount may be required — but with more late vote tallies to come, that still could change.
The straggling counts came from ballots mailed from outside the state by Colorado voters, which could be counted so long as they arrived by 11:59 p.m. Mountain time Wednesday. Ballots requiring additional signature verification could be counted until then as well.
Boebert had a 1,122-vote lead as of Thursday morning, but that shrank to 615 votes by 3:17 p.m. with new results from Pueblo County and other parts of the sprawling 3rd Congressional District, according to the secretary of state’s Office. That’s under the automatic recount threshold of about 817 votes, a number equal to half of 1% of the top vote-getter’s tally.
More ballots are likely to be reported to the secretary of state’s Office throughout Thursday and possibly into Friday, so the results could change.
Still outstanding, though, are the latest ballots from Mesa County, which have skewed in Boebert’s favor.
Even if Boebert gains more votes and avoids an automatic recount, Frisch could still request one so long as he’s willing to pay for it. Recounts rarely change the outcome of a given race.
Political experts had expected a landslide victory for Boebert, but she’s only ahead now by a fraction of a percent.
As of Thursday afternoon, neither candidate had declared victory or conceded.
Frisch tweeted his thanks for volunteers who helped voters fix and count ballots throughout the election, one of the country’s closest.
“Running in this race, getting to know so many people in my district & hearing your stories has been an honor of a lifetime,” Frisch said on the social media site. “Stay tuned.”
Boebert didn’t address her race on Twitter but celebrated that Republicans had secured a majority, albeit a slim one, in the House, meaning a member of the GOP will replace U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.
“The Pelosi era is over,” Boebert tweeted. “Good riddance!”
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