Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) says his decision to retire early from Congress has nothing to do with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) who switched districts late last year to run for re-election in Buck’s seat.
Buck announced last year that he would not run for re-election at the end of his current term, but on Tuesday he moved up the time line to next Friday. His decision triggered a June 25 special election to fill his seat for the rest of this year. It is also the date of the state primary election contests.
In a statement Boebert slammed Buck’s decision to retire early, calling it a “gift to the Uniparty.”
“The establishment concocted a swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election I’m winning by 25 points,” she said.
But Buck called Boebert’s claim “ridiculous” in a statement to the Colorado Sun.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “I’m not giving anybody an advantage or disadvantage.”
“I have done my very best to stay out of this primary election,” he added.
Buck also told the outlet that his decision to retire early was due to his growing frustration with Congress and the timing was because he wanted the special election to overlap with the June 25 primary elections.
“I thought that was really important,” he said.
Boebert said she plans to skip the special election and will be focusing on the GOP primary instead where she is endorsed by Donald Trump. Colorado’s 4th district is heavily Republican and the winner of the GOP primary is virtually assured to win the general election in November.
