Republican Rep. Ken Buck Tuesday announced he is stepping down, reducing the narrow GOP majority in the House and potentially throwing a curve ball in the race to succeed him.
Buck, a maverick Colorado conservative, had already said he wouldn’t run for reelection representing the 4th Congressional District, a solidly red region centered around Colorado Springs.
“This place has just devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people,” Buck told CNN.
By resigning early effective next week, Buck gives GOP leaders a headache by at least temporarily reducing their slim House majority to just five seats.
Buck’s move could also throw a wrench in controversial Rep. Lauren Boebert’s bid to succeed him.
Boebert, who represents a different Colorado district, has said she plans to abandon her own seat to run this year for Buck’s district.
House primaries in Colorado are planned for June 25. Gov. Jared Polis might choose to schedule the special election for the same date or could potentially fast track it before that.
Party leaders pick the candidates to vie in special elections. So if Boebert is not selected by Republican leaders, she would need to run in a GOP primary against a candidate picked by GOP leaders.
AP Photo/David Zalubowski
U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., before taking part in the first Republican primary debate for the 4th Congressional district seat being vacated by Ken Buck Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, in Fort Lupton, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Boebert barely won her last reelection in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District in the western part of the state, and that race is expected to be a close fight in the fall.
She won unwelcome headlines when she was caught vaping and fondling her date during a family friendly performance at a Denver theater in September.
