Colorado 4th Special Election 2024

The Colorado 4th special election takes place on June 25, 2024, and it may give another boost to the fractious GOP House majority.

This special election, one of the last handful to come before the November general election, was a Republican-held seat. June 25 is also the date of the Colorado primary, meaning that as voters in the 4th District elect a new representative, they will choose the nominees here for the upcoming election.

About Colorado’s 4th District

The entire eastern border of Colorado is within the 4th District. It includes towns and cities such as Burlington, Sterling, and Fort Morgan. However, this district also wraps its way into more populated areas, including Loveland and Parker. This district borders five states, to give an idea as to its scope.

The prior representative here was Ken Buck, a Republican. He resigned earlier in 2024 after having announced he would not run for re-election. A major factor for Buck was wanting to focus on getting candidates elected, which would distract from his Congressional duties. Buck earned ire from within his own party during the January 2023 speakership election for being a holdout vote, and again after the motion to vacate in October 2023 for voting to oust Kevin McCarthy. Buck also did not vote to impeach DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February 2024, in another break with his party.

The 4th District is quite red: its Cook PVI rating is R+13, putting it well out of reach for Democratic candidates most years. It most recently had Democratic representation for one term, under a different configuration, following the 2008 Barack Obama landslide. This seat went back to Republican in the 2010 midterms, and has stayed that way ever since.

Colorado 4th Special Election 2024 Candidates

The GOP nominee in this seat is Greg Lopez, the former mayor of Parker. Please note that Lopez is not a candidate in the June 25 simultaneous primary; if elected, he would serve only until January 2025.

Meanwhile, the Democrats have nominated Trisha Calvarese, who is one of four Democratic candidates in the general election’s primary.

Also running are Frank Atwood of the Approval Voting Party and Libertarian Hannah Goodman.

Current State of the House

At present, the House has 218 Republicans – the number required for a bare overall majority. Democrats hold 213 seats, while four remain vacant. The 4th District is one of those four. Another of the four has been filled thanks to a special election in the 6th District of Ohio, but Republican Michael Rulli will not be sworn until the day of this Colorado election.

But What About The November Election?

That will be potentially much more interesting than this special election. There will be a different Republican nominee in that race, and this 4th District special is happening alongside a contentious GOP primary. Among the candidates is Lauren Boebert, representative for the 3rd District in the western part of the state. She had an unexpectedly close call in 2022, winning re-election by less than 600 votes. Boebert decided to abandon her district for the redder 4th, but we will have to see if she makes it through the primary.