Lauren Boebert Victorious, Diane Mitsch Bush Concedes In Colorado's 3rd Congressional District Race
(CBS4) - Gun-toting political newcomer Lauren Boebert declared she won the race to represent Colorado's 3rd Congressional District late Tuesday night, and Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush conceded a little after midnight.
"The voters have spoken. I did not get enough votes to win," Mitsch Bush stated.
With 90% of precincts reporting, the race was called officially on Wednesday morning by the Associated Press. Boebert had 209,496 votes, or 51.09% of the vote, to Mitsch Bush's 187,211 (45.66%).
Boebert told news reporters she will be the first mother to ever to represent the district in Congress.
ELECTION RESULTS: See updated results from the 2020 general election in Colorado
Boebert shockingly defeated incumbent Rep. Scott Tipton in the Republican primary in June and her take-no-prisoners kind of style caught the attention of President Donald Trump, who invited her first to an Independence Day celebration at Mount Rushmore and then to his nomination acceptance speech at the White House.
Boebert owns a restaurant in Rifle -- Shooters Grill -- that opened for dine-in service earlier this year amid the coronavirus pandemic and violated a cease and desist order. She and her restaurant have also made headlines over the years for its policy of allowing employees to openly carry guns while at work.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sunk nearly $900,000 into the race in support of Bush, and Bush, a former state lawmaker who lost to Tipton in 2018, raised $2.5 million herself.
The conservative Super PAC Club for Growth Action also spent $800,000 in support of Boebert in the race.
Colorado's 3rd Congressional District covers all of Colorado's Western Slope, a portion of southern Colorado and the Four Corners area. Cities in the district include Pueblo, Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Durango and Aspen.
