HUGO, Colo. — A panel of Colorado Republicans selected former mayor of Parker Greg Lopez as the candidate who will likely serve out the final months of U.S. Rep. Ken Buck ’s term.
Now Lopez will face off against a Democratic opponent in a special election for the open seat in Colorado's 4th Congressional District on June 25, a race he is expected to win. That special election is taking place on the same day as the GOP primary that will likely decide the winner of the November election in Colorado's most heavily Republican district.
It's the first time this process has happened in Colorado since 1983.
Rep Lauren Boebert, who is running for the permanent 4th Congressional District seat, has said that Buck's sudden resignation from Congress was timed to hurt her chances to replace him.
If Buck had hoped to give an establishment Republican an edge over Boebert in the primary, his plan backfired. The GOP committee didn't pick the establishment successor to fill his seat until January, opting for a Boebert-backed placeholder who isn't challenging her for the GOP nomination in June.
After he was selected, Lopez told reporters he was surprised.
"To be honest, I am," he said. "I knew it was going to be a tough battle – as you can see we went six rounds. We had some great candidates, some real good candidates looking for this."
He also said he doesn't consider himself a placeholder candidate but a "strategic partner" instead.
"I know the next candidate that wins the primary also goes into the general … but my opportunity is to make sure we maintain a conservative voice for this district," he said.
There were nine candidates for the special election, six of whom are also running in the primary June 25. Those included former state House Minority Leader Mike Lynch, Rep. Richard Holtorf, former state lawmaker and current Logan County Commissioner Jerry Sonnenberg, former state lawmaker Ted Harvey, Peter Yu and Chris Phelen.
The three placeholder candidates who are not running in the June primary were Scott Melbye, Floyd Trujillo and Lopez.
To win the special election, a candidate needed 50 votes – a majority of the 98 votes cast.
Lopez beat Sonnenberg in the 6th round of voting, earning 51 votes to Sonnenberg's 46.
Lopez is also the former director of the Colorado Small Business Administration and the former CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Greg Lopez, who won the top line on the GOP primary ballot for Governor in 2022, wanted to ban mail-in voting. Records showed Lopez voted by mail every time since Colorado gave all voters the option in 2013.
Lopez was also arrested in 1993 for assaulting his pregnant wife. During his gubernatorial run, Lopez said he was a pro-life candidate, without exceptions for rape, incest, and life or health of the mother.
Democratic Governor Jared Polis is America's first openly gay man elected governor. He married his longtime partner Marlon Reis while in office. During his run for governor, Lopez said it's time Colorado has "a real First Lady again." Lopez said that's not homophobic.
The scramble to fill Buck's seat comes after he announced he wouldn’t run for reelection last year, citing his party's handling of Trump.
Then, earlier this month, Buck abruptly resigned, pointing to the “bickering and nonsense” he said now pervades the U.S. Capitol. Buck left Congress on March 22.
9NEWS contributed to this report.
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