Colorado Republican Greg Lopez to be sworn in as Ken Buck’s replacement

Greg Lopez, the newly elected Republican representative from Colorado, will be sworn into the U.S. House on Monday night, filling the seat vacated by former Rep. Ken Buck (R), who retired this year.

Lopez, a former mayor of Parker, Colo., won the special election two weeks ago to represent Colorado’s eastern 4th Congressional District and carry out the remainder of Buck’s term, which ends in January 2025.

Lopez did not run in the GOP primary for the next two-year term, meaning he’ll only be doing a temporary stint in Congress.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who currently represents the state’s 3rd Congressional District, ran in and won the GOP primary in late June to represent the state’s 4th Congressional District, which is more solidly conservative than her current district.

Boebert said she would switch districts after Buck announced he would not seek reelection. Boebert was facing a tough reelection campaign against Democrat Adam Frisch, who lost to Boebert in 2022 by just several hundred votes.

Buck announced late last year that he would retire at the end of his term. But in March, he expedited that process, saying he would leave the following week.

Buck, a founding member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, increasingly broke with his party on policy issues and was outspoken against the election denialism in the GOP conference.

Once Lopez is sworn in, just before 7 p.m. Monday, House Republicans will have 220 members, while Democrats have 213 members.