DENVER – Rifle restaurateur and Republican political newcomer Lauren Boebert will be Colorado’s next 3rd Congressional District congresswoman after her Democratic opponent Diane Mitsch Bush conceded just after midnight Wednesday morning.
Boebert declared victory in a Facebook Live video late Tuesday. The Associated Press announced her win at 7:20 a.m. Wednesday.
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In Boebert's video, she thanked her supporters and said it was “an incredible honor and privilege” to win the race and become the “first mom” to serve the district.
Just after midnight, Mitsch Bush conceded in a statement by thanking her supporters, staff and volunteers.
My statement about the outcome of the race in #CO03. pic.twitter.com/jyV4NHEFsp
— Diane Mitsch Bush for Congress (@RepDMB) November 4, 2020
“The voters have spoken. I did not get enough votes to win,” she wrote in the statement. “…Let’s remember that so much more unites us than divides us.”
In addition to becoming the first mom to represent the district, Boebert will also be the first woman to do so.
The polarizing politician unseated five-term Republican Rep. Scott Tipton for the GOP nomination for the seat by touting her support for Trump, his policies, and the Second Amendment. She owns Shooters Grill in Rifle, where employees open-carry firearms.
As her star grew following her win over Tipton in the primary, she worked to distance herself from comments she made about being interested in the QAnon conspiracy theory but did not shy away from Trump and his supporters, often using her Twitter account as her biggest platform to reach other conservative voters.
“People don’t want the government telling them how to live their lives,” she said in an interview after her primary win. “They want to be free and live their own lives and pursue their own happiness, and I’ll fight for that every day.”
The 3rd Congressional District will stay in the hands of Republicans, and Boebert will represent nearly half of the state, much of it along the Western Slope, but also down into Pueblo.
It was the second straight defeat in the district for Mitsch Bush, who lost in 2018 to Tipton by eight percentage points.
As of 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Boebert led Mitsch Bush 51%-46%, with 90% of precincts reporting.
The 3rd Congressional District Race was the only open seat in Colorado in 2018 that was up for election among the congressional races. Incumbents handily won each of their respective races.
