Republican Greg Lopez won a special election Tuesday night to fill former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck’s seat for the rest of this year, outpolling Democrat Trisha Calvarese.

Lopez was leading with 79,216 votes, or 58% of the total, in results posted to the Colorado secretary of state’s website as of 8:25 p.m. He was followed by Calvarese, at 35%; Libertarian Hannah Goodman, at 5%; and Frank Atwood of the Approval Voting Party, at 2%.

The Associated Press called the race for Lopez at 7:32 p.m.

Lopez was celebrating his win with supporters at a restaurant in Elizabeth Tuesday night, where he lives.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to represent CD4,” Lopez said in a phone interview. “I’ll be able to represent the conservative values of this district in a strong and impactful manner.”

Lopez, 60, said he sees his temporary stopover in Congress — he will be there just over six months before ceding the seat to whichever candidate prevails in November — as a “temporary duty assignment.” He served in the U.S. Air Force for four years.

“When my nation calls, I step up to the plate,” he said.

Tuesday’s special election was made necessary when Buck suddenly announced in March that he was not just retiring at the end of his term in early January — as he’d earlier said — but stepping down from his seat nine months early. Colorado Gov. Jared Polis called a special election to fill out the rest of Buck’s term and scheduled it for the same day as Colorado’s congressional primary.

Buck’s seat has sat empty since March 22 — the first congressional vacancy in Colorado in more than 40 years.

Republicans chose Lopez, a former Parker mayor, to run for the seat. He promised to do so as a placeholder only, declining to run in the primary election that was also held Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert won the GOP primary in the 4th Congressional District Tuesday night. Political newcomer Trisha Calvarese was leading among a field of three Democrats. Calvarese was running in both the special and primary elections in the 4th Congressional District, which includes much of the Eastern Plains and south suburban Denver’s Douglas County.

Lopez has twice run for governor of Colorado but lost in the Republican primary both times. Calvarese, a 37-year-old labor advocate who helped run a campaign for a congressional candidate in Pennsylvania, is otherwise a political novice. She lives in Highlands Ranch and spent some of her youth on the Eastern Plains in Sterling, returning home late last year.

Lopez made news at the beginning of June when he decided at the last moment to skip a special election debate at the Grizzly Rose. The debate organizer, the Republican Women of Weld, said Lopez declined to participate after insisting he get the group’s endorsement ahead of the debate, a request that was rebuffed.

Lopez has also run into legal troubles in his career and personal life. He was hit with a federal civil case in 2020, alleging that he used his connections as former district director of the Colorado office of the Small Business Administration to help a friend with a guaranteed loan a decade ago. Lopez later paid $15,000 as part of a settlement with then-U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn’s office.

Lopez also faced charges of domestic violence stemming from a 1993 incident involving his wife, and he was charged with driving under the influence in a separate case.

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