Lauren Boebert’s Colorado race is likely about to be recounted

Rep. Lauren Boebert could face an automatic recount in her unexpectedly close race in a conservative Colorado district, with the fiery Republican leading her Democratic challenger by just 551 votes.

The Associated Press has declared the elections in the 3rd congressional district too soon. With almost all votes counted, incumbent Boebert leads Democrat Adam Frisch with 0.16 percentage points of almost 327,000 votes counted.

Such a small margin qualifies for an automatic recount under Colorado law in a race that has drawn national attention as Republicans seek to increase their count after narrowly winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday to have.

When counties set the unofficial results Thursday, Boebert’s already narrow lead was cut in half. All but one of the 27 counties in the district had reported final results by Thursday evening. Otero County plans to finalize its numbers on Friday.

In Colorado, a mandatory recount is triggered when the voting margin between the two frontrunners is at or below 0.5% of the frontrunner’s total votes. As of Thursday night, that margin was about 0.34%.

The updated results follow a hectic few days for both campaigns as they struggled to “heal” ballots – the process of confirming voters’ choices when their ballots were rejected at the initial count.

On Thursday night, Boebert, an outspoken member of the so-called “MAGA Squad,” made up of hardline loyalists to Donald Trump, prematurely claimed victory in a tweeted video as she stands in front of the US Capitol.

“In January, be sure of two things,” Boebert said before thanking her supporters, “I’ll be sworn in for my second term as your congressmen and Republicans can finally turn Pelosi’s house back into the people’s house.”

By election night, Boebert, the former owner of a gun-themed restaurant best known for taking part in public fights with high-profile Democrats like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Ilhan Omar, had been heavily favored post-election to win the Winning re-election the 3rd District strongly Republican.

Her razor-thin lead over Frisch, a businessman from the ski resort of Aspen, surprised the political establishment.

Frisch, a former city councilman who ran on a conservative platform to attract Republican voters tired of Boebert’s Trump-inspired style, said he expected a close race and wouldn’t be surprised if he won.

“Obviously we can’t be surprised if we lose,” he added. “We’re not that crazy.”

With postal wires