Her Democratic challenger, meanwhile, acknowledged he may lose: «We’re not that wacko.»
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., on Thursday declared herself the winner of her congressional race even though the election is still too close to call.
Boebert has been locked in a surprisingly tight contest with Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, who led the race on election night. Boebert took a slim lead over the Democrat last week as votes continued to be counted but Frisch cut her lead from 1,122 votes to 551 votes on Thursday as more ballots were cured and counted.
The race remains too close to call, according to the Associated Press. Boebert’s slim lead is well within the 0.5% threshold to trigger an automatic recount under Colorado law and the AP is not expected to call the race until the recount is complete. Under state law, the mandatory recount must be completed no more than 35 days after the election, which is December 13.
But that did not stop Boebert, who went unusually quiet as she trailed in the race, from prematurely declaring victory.
«We won!» Boebert tweeted along with a video. «Come January, you can be certain of two things,» she said, «I will be sworn in for my second term as your congresswoman and Republicans can finally turn Pelosi’s house back into the People’s House.»
Colorado Sun editor Larry Rickman pointed out that not only is the race headed for a recount, «two counties have not yet sent their final vote tallies.»
Still, tweeted the Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman, it would be «extremely rare for a lead of that size to be overturned in a recount.»
Frisch, a businessman and former Aspen city councilman, told the AP that he would not be surprised if he ended up winning but acknowledged he may lose.
