Adam Frisch Concedes to Lauren Boebert

Democrat Adam Frisch has called Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) to concede, CNN reported Friday afternoon.

CNN Newsroom anchor Ana Cabrera reported that Frisch announced he had just called Boebert to concede the race for Colorado’s third congressional district.

“There will still be an automatic recount done by the Secretary of State because this one is extremely close, but, again, Lauren Boebert’s challenger has now conceded,” said Cabrera.

The closeness of the race surprised many political observers, as the district was viewed as safely Republican. According to CNN, Boebert led Frisch by only 551 votes as of Friday morning, requiring a recount under Colorado law:

In Colorado, any race decided by a margin that’s 0.5% or less of the votes earned by the top finisher is automatically recounted. The current margin of 551 votes is about 0.34% of Boebert’s 163,758 votes.

According to information published by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, all but one of the counties in the Western Slope district have finished reporting votes.

Frisch made the announcement official via a Facebook Live video (Frisch begins speaking around the 3:45 mark):

In the video, Frisch said he was “tremendously thankful” and “there’s never been a more humbling moment in my life” to have so much support from voters, donors, volunteers, and especially his family.

He did take a swipe at Boebert, saying that the voters in the district were “tired of the circus” and “tired of the lack of a serious representative, of having representation that is more interested in self-promotion through the ‘anger-tainment’ industry.”

Frisch said he was proud of having run an “ethical campaign, with a focus on issues,” and had “only criticized our opponent for not doing her job.”

He also criticized Democrats for having “abandoned rural America and working class America” for too long, allowing Republicans to have a “monopoly” on the “backbone of the country.” This needed to change, he argued, and “every party should be investing in every corner of America.”

But “the voters have spoken,” Frisch continued, and he remained “down by a few hundred votes,” which would most likely trigger a legally-required recount.

“We are not asking for this recount,” he stated, but he was “supportive” of it “to ensure continued faith in the security of our elections.”

“However, the likelihood of this recount changing more than a handful of votes is very small — very, very small,” he said, declaring that it would be “disingenuous” and “unethical” for his campaign or any other group to “raise false hope” and encourage fundraising for this recount. “Colorado elections are safe, accurate, and secure,” he said, encouraging his supporters to “please save your money” for more important items like rent and groceries.

“I just got off the phone with Representative Boebert. I called her to formerly concede this election,” Frisch said, concluding with a message urging unity and pledging to continue to advocate for the district and other rural parts of the country.

Boebert tweeted that Frisch had called to concede.

Frisch also posted his video on Twitter, along with a message that “Running to represent the amazing people of #CO03 has been the honor of my lifetime.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

This is a breaking story and has been updated with additional content.