Rep. Doug Lamborn's retirement leaves every Republican district in Colorado in play

On Jan. 5, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) declared his intention not to seek re-election, opening up all of the state's Republican congressional districts for new candidates this year, as The Epoch Times reported.

“I will not be running for reelection,” the congressman, who has represented the Centennial State’s 5th Congressional District since 2007, told Colorado’s KVOR-AM’s Richard Randall.

“I am going to retire at the end of 2024, so the 5th Congressional District seat will be open, as is the 3rd and the 4th—and I’m not running for either of those two seats, either," Lamborn said.

“I’m not getting any younger,” he added. “I want to spend time with my children, grandchildren, with my wife. I want to look for opportunities to do good.”

Effect of The Resignation

Due to Lamborn's resignation, there won't be an incumbent in the three firmly Republican seats in Colorado.

Representing the 4th Congressional District of the state since 2015, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) is not seeking reelection. He is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, and he has a history of defying his own party's leadership.

Having served as the representative for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District since 2021, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has switched districts.

She is hoping to succeed Buck in the district from which he is retiring, because her Democratic opponent in her soon-to-be former district, Adam Frisch, just missed defeating her in 2022 by a few hundred votes.

With Lamborn's announcement, there are now an equal number of Republicans and Democrats who have decided to step down from public office for the time being.

He is the 43rd member of Congress and the 36th member of the House to announce a decision not to seek reelection, and the 20th to announce a retirement from Congress.

Twenty-two Democrats and fourteen Republicans in the House are not seeking reelection.

Congressional Impact

The 118th Congress has been among the least productive in history, which is thought to be one of the reasons the retirement announcements from Congress are being made.

Although Lamborn was not well-known for being in the spotlight with great frequency, in 2022 he was the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation into claims that he had mishandled personnel and resources in his office. Nothing was done about that controversy in the end.

Prior to entering Congress, Lamborn spent a total of 12 years serving in the Colorado Senate and Colorado House of Representatives.