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The race between MAGA Republican Lauren Bobert and Democratic challenger Adam Freese is likely headed for an automatic recount as the election in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District remains too close to call. With 99% of the votes counted, the far-right extremist leads with just 551 votes or 0.16 percentage points. An automatic recount is triggered if neither candidate has enough votes to win by more than 0.5 percent. The recount must be completed by December 13. While her own future in politics still hangs in the balance, Ms. Bobert took the opportunity to celebrate the news that Nancy Pelosi is stepping down as leader of the House Democratic Caucus. Ms. Pelosi delivered the announcement on the House floor Thursday after spending 20 years in the role. After the news, Donald Trump ally Ms. Bobert tweeted: “The Pelosi era is over. Good riddance!”
Boebert v. Frisch
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Adam Frisch is already in Washington for new member orientation. He says he has support from some Republicans
Adam Frisch is in Washington DC with a handful of other candidates who haven’t won their undecided races but are locked in very close contests. “There are a few of us, five or six from any one place, who go through the training and the motions and taking pictures. I try to sit on the edge in case I have to be cut at the end. And we’re learning,” he told Colorado Public Radio earlier this week. He said members of Congress “are very supportive of me on the Democratic and Republican side.” “I talked to Democrats and Republicans, new members of Congress,” he said. “Yes, there are definitely some Republicans cheering for me. But everybody understands in a bipartisan way that every year, every cycle, there’s a handful of people who are in that position where it’s too close to call. So they can’t legally define it, but it’s so close that it’s important for them to come and go through the process.” Alex Woodward November 18, 2022 10:00 am 1668762000
Colorado GOP faces ‘extinction-level event’ with midterm losses: ‘This was the asteroid that ended the dinosaur’s reign’
Colorado is represented by a Democratic governor, two Democratic senators and eight members of the House – five of whom are Democrats. The close race between Lauren Boebert and Adam Frisch was likely a surprise to both candidates, but not entirely unexpected in a state with a rising Democratic leadership. Last week, Republicans lost seven seats in the Colorado state legislature, while another Republican senator switched his party affiliation to a Democrat ahead of the midterm elections. “I honestly think the Republicans of Colorado need to take this and learn that the party is dead. This was an extinction-level event,” Republican state Rep. Colin Larson told the agency. “This was the asteroid that ended the reign of the dinosaur, and in this case, the dinosaur was the Republican Party.” Alex Woodward18 November 2022 09:00 1668758400
ICYMI: Nancy Pelosi will step down as Democratic leader
After two decades in Democratic leadership, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress “must move boldly into the future” and remain “open to new possibilities” as she prepares to step down from her historic role. In emotional remarks on the House floor Thursday, after Republicans were projected to hold a majority in the lower house of Congress, Ms. Pelosi said she would continue to serve her district as a lawmaker representing San Francisco but would not seek re-election to a leadership role. Alex Woodward18 November 2022 08:00 1668754800
“Other people were shocked by Lauren Bobert’s close race. I was not’
The Independent’s Sheila Flynn writes: Colorado is home to a diverse population – ranchers and hippies, skiers and oilmen, immigrants and coastal transplants. Lauren Bobert’s Third Congressional District includes all of that. And the majority of those voters, despite their differences, tend to share an independent streak and a fierce pride in their state. Bobert either forgot this or seriously miscalculated. Because it seemed to me this year, just from reporting on her constituency, that these factors would cause her huge problems. Alex Woodward18 November 2022 07:00 1668751200
House Republicans are wasting no time announcing investigations into the Biden family
House Republicans are previewing a series of investigations into President Joe Biden and his family after narrowly winning the lower house in the midterm elections. The president has rejected any allegations that he is connected to his son’s affairs, but House Republicans are pushing a congressional investigation to derail his administration. Lauren Boebert cheered them on: Alex Woodward18 November 2022 06:00 1668747600
Republicans may now control the House of Representatives – but there’s a catch
The lack of a significant majority will come back to bite the GOP, writes Chris Stevenson: Alex Woodward18 November 2022 05:00 1668744051
“After Nancy Pelosi, get ready for a darker, weirder time in the House”
While the majority is very thin in the House, Republicans are set to gain new power in 2023. The GOP will have control of powerful House committees with investigative subpoena powers, the ability to decide which bills to pursue and bring to the floor, and the ability to impeach President Biden and members of his cabinet. Remember the Trump-era House hearings filled with warmongering insanity? Get ready for dozens of them. Alex Woodward18 November 2022 04:00 1668736817
Marjorie Taylor Greene dodges question about most fentanyl being smuggled by US citizens – not immigrants
Far-right Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green dodged a question from The Independent when asked about her claims about the source of fentanyl crossing the US-Mexico border. When asked about the fact that most fentanyl comes not from illegal border crossings but from legal ports of entry for American citizens, Ms. Greene dodged the question. “I would ask where is your proof of that because they haven’t shown us that,” he said. “When we go to the border and talk to border patrol agents, when we’re on the ground, they don’t tell us that at all.” Then, citing a study by the CATO Institute, a libertarian organization that cited U.S. government data, it dismissed the study. “The CATO Institute is not the Border Patrol,” he said. Alex Woodward18 November 2022 02:00 1668733251
“Nancy Pelosi: The Most Powerful Woman in American Politics. Period.’
As outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveils her political future, Andrew Feinberg looks back at her legacy: Alex Woodward18 November 2022 01:00 1668730633
Bobert’s Colorado congressional race likely headed for recount
The race between far-right Republican Lauren Bobert and Democratic challenger Adam Freese for Colorado’s 3rd congressional district is leading to a possible recount, according to election observers. Given today’s vote totals, neither candidate appears likely to have the required margin of victory of 0.5 percent to win in the first round of counting. But as Cook Political Report editor Dave Wasserman notes, “it’s extremely rare for a lead of this magnitude to be overturned in a recount,” pointing to Ms. Boebert’s current lead of just over 550 votes. Josh Marcus November 18, 2022 12:17 AM