GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX) — U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert's recent announcement that she'll now run for election in Colorado's 4th district has flipped the race for Colorado's 3rd district on its head. Western Slope Now looked at the Federal Election Commission filings for candidates in the Third and Fourth Districts.
First, why can Boebert run for election in a district she doesn't live in? Article 1 section 2 of the United States Constitution states:
"No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen."
This means to run for a federal representative in Colorado you need to be 25 years or older, be a United States resident for seven years, and live in Colorado—there are no district requirements meaning Rep. Boebert can run in CO-4 as long as she lives in the state. We asked two of Rep. Boebert's now former challengers about her move to run in the fourth district.
I will let the voters of the 4th congressional district decide how they feel about someone moving to their district in order to run. In my view I couldn't imagine doing anything like that.
Jeff Hurd (R) candidate in CO-3
I will let the voters of Eastern Colorado decide whether she deserves to show up out of the blue and carpetbag her way into the republican primary and into Washington D.C.
Adam Frisch (D) candidate in CO-3
Now that the dust has settled on Rep. Boebert's move how is the rest of the field shaping up? Taking a look at FEC filings $8,653,522.92 have been fundraised for campaigns in District Three. Here's the candidate breakdown:
- Adam Frisch (D) - $7,769,641.43 - 90%
- Jeff Hurd (R) - $412,468.50 - 5%
- Russ Andrews (R) $311,167.24 - 3%
- Anna Stout (D) - $101,475.08 - 1%
On the eastern side of the state in District Four, Rep. Boebert is entering the race with an overwhelming fundraising lead. She alone makes up 98% of the $2,478,882.44 total funds in the race for CO-4.
- Lauren Boebert (R) - $2,435,743.58 - 98%
- John Padora (D) - $22,752.43 - 1%
- Isaac McCorkle (D) - $20,386.43 - >1%
Other candidates in the race such as Justin Schreiber (R), Karen Breslin (D), Trent Lisely (R), and more have not reported any campaign donations to the FEC, yet. The last FEC filing deadline was September 30th, 2023—meaning these candidates could have money fundraised that isn't filed if they entered the race after Sept. 30. That scenario is very possible because Rep. Ken Buck (R) only announced his retirement from Congress on November 1st, 2023. Rep. Buck had won the past five elections in CO-4, dating back to 2014.
The next deadline for FEC filings in congressional races is January 31st. That filing will show how much money all the candidates raised in 2023.