5-term GOP congressman endorsed by Trump unseated by far-right challenger with QAnon sympathies

(Image credit: Emily Kask/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 1 July 2020

Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) conceded defeat to his GOP primary challenger, Lauren Boebert, on Tuesday night, sealing an upset victory in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District by the far-right electoral newcomer. President Trump, who had endorsed Tipton on Monday, quickly congratulated Boebert on "a really great win!" Tipton is a five-term incumbent who beat Democrat Diane Mitsch Bush by 8 percentage points in 2018. Mitsch Bush won the Democratic primary and will face Boebert in the general election.

Boebert, who owns a gun-themed bar, ran as a more Trump-aligned conservative and said in one interview that she is "very familiar with" the QAnon conspiracy theory, thinks "it could be really great for our country," and hopes it is true. "She worked conservative talk radio pretty effectively in the district and across the state," Dick Wadhams, a former chairman of the Colorado GOP, told The Colorado Sun. "The 3rd has never been a rock-hard Republican district," so Boebert is "going to have to figure out how to adjust her campaign to be competitive." Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball election tracking organization changed the district from "likely Republican" to "leans Republican" after Tipton's loss.

Cheri Bustos, chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, suggested late Tuesday that "Washington Republicans should immediately disavow Lauren Boebert and her extremist, dangerous conspiracy theories," but they declined. Boebert told a Denver Post reporter she has already gotten congratulatory calls from House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Rep. Ken Buck, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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