DENVER — Adam Frisch is still more than a thousand votes behind U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in the race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District seat, but he’s attending orientation for new members of Congress in case a wave of upcoming ballots reverses their positions.
After a neck-and-neck race, far closer than most every political expert anticipated, Boebert remained 1,122 votes ahead of Frisch by the end of last week.
That razor-thin margin is expected to remain until county clerks throughout the sprawling district report hundreds more ballots later this week. Those ballots include votes sent from out-of-state and others that required additional signature verification before they could be counted.
Whether the remaining ballots will be enough for Frisch to take the lead, however, remains unclear. His spokeswoman Madeleine Schmidt said the Democrat’s team is working with voters to fix, or cure, ballots with signature issues in an effort to squeeze every last vote for Frisch out of the district.
And just in case Frisch is able to sneak ahead in the numbers yet again — which would likely push the race toward a recount — he flew to Washington, D.C., for orientation, Schmidt confirmed.
Frisch said in a statement that he is joined in D.C. by “a handful of other candidates across the country from both parties who are still in very close, undecided races.”
“This happens every cycle and the invite list and process is run by non-partisan House administration,” Frisch added.
Not only is the race significant for Coloradans, but it also bears national significance. While Democrats staved off Republicans looking for a majority in the Senate, the fate of the House is still undecided. The GOP needs to win just one more House seat to seal a majority and oust Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.
While her own race is undecided, Boebert tweeted congratulations to incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, of Arizona, who successfully held on to his seat. That victory means the House is “one step closer to firing Nancy Pelosi,” Boebert said on the social media platform.
Boebert also began fundraising off her own undecided race.
“I told you all year, the Left would do everything that they possibly could to get rid of me,” the congresswoman tweeted. “As this race comes down to every last vote, I need you to help us ensure we have the resources to finish what we started.”
Frisch remained optimistic but reserved, looking to the next round of ballots, which should be reported either Thursday or Friday.
“I am not going to get over my skis,” he said. “Our county clerks and bipartisan poll-watching teams are taking great care with counting every vote, and we must be patient as we allow this process to play out.”
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