Republican Rep. Ken Buck has known for a long time that he will not be seeking reelection. He will leave Congress at the end of next week, further shrinking the GOP’s already thin majority.
“It has been an honor to serve the people of Colorado’s 4th District in Congress for the past nine years,” Buck said. I want to thank them for their support and encouragement through the years.” With his departure, Republicans can only afford to lose two conference members if there is a party-line vote on legislation.
“I look forward to staying involved in our political process, as well as spending more time in Colorado and with my family,” Buck said. He did not give further explanation on why he chose not to serve out the rest of his term.
Buck is famous for often taking conservative, hard-line positions and distancing himself from Donald Trump. He was one of eight Republicans to vote to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy. According to him, he did so because of McCarthy’s handling of spending issues.
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McCarthy also resigned from Congress early, leaving Capitol Hill at the end of 2023. He was replaced by Johnson, whom Buck supports. He broke with his party on several topics.
Especially their false narratives about the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Last November, while announcing his decision not to run for a sixth term, Buck was highly critical of how his party handled those two issues.
“These insidious narratives breed widespread cynicism and erode Americans’ confidence in the rule of law,” he said. “It is impossible for the Republican Party to confront our problems and offer a course correction for the future while being obsessively fixated on retribution and vengeance for contrived injustices of the past.”
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He has also cast doubt on the House impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and voted against the House impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Buck’s retirement comes amid a wave of House retirements. Other high-profile GOP ready to exit at the end of this Congress include Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger, China Select Committee Chairman Mike Gallagher, and Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has announced plans to schedule a special election to fill Buck’s seat on June 25. That is the same day as the competitive GOP primary that Lauren Boebert is participating in, and she’s voicing out.
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“This has a lot of potential to confuse voters, which is problematic,” Boebert said on an X Space. Her fellow Republicans, including Rep. Matt Gaetz and Rep. George Santos, also attended the space.
GOP primary voters will decide the primary. However, a group of local party officials will ultimately determine each party’s nominee for the special election. Boebert thinks it makes no sense and has called it “swampy.” However, she ultimately has little say over who the local party chooses to run in the special election.
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