2024 Colorado's 4th congressional district special election

For broader coverage of this topic, see Colorado's 4th congressional district.

The 2024 Colorado's 4th congressional district special election was held on June 25, 2024, to fill the vacant seat in Colorado's 4th congressional district. The winner will serve in the United States House of Representatives for the remainder of the 118th United States Congress. The seat became vacant on March 22, 2024, when Ken Buck resigned from Congress.^[1]

2024 Colorado's 4th congressional district special election

← 2022 June 25, 2024 November 2024 →
Colorado's 4th congressional district
Nominee Greg Lopez Trisha Calvarese Hannah Goodman Party Republican Democratic Libertarian Popular vote 100,095 59,013 9,068 Percentage 58.40% 34.43% 5.29%
County results Lopez:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
U.S. Representative before election Ken Buck Republican Elected U.S. Representative Greg Lopez Republican

The 4th district is based in eastern Colorado and the exurbs of Denver, taking in Highlands Ranch, Loveland, and Castle Rock.^[2] It is considered a safe Republican district and the most strongly Republican district in Colorado.^[1]

Nominees were not chosen via primary election. Instead, each party's nominee was selected by a committee of party leaders and elected officials in the 4th congressional district.^[3]

Republican nominee Greg Lopez easily defeated Democratic nominee Trisha Calvarese with 58.4% of the vote.

Republican nomination

The Republican nominee was chosen on March 28, 2024, by a 111-member committee. Two candidates in the election, Holtorf and Lynch, served on the committee.^[4]

Candidates

Nominee

• Greg Lopez, former mayor of Parker and candidate for governor in 2018 and 2022^[5]

Eliminated at convention

• Ted Harvey, former state senator and candidate for the 6th district in 2008^[6]
• Richard Holtorf, state representative^[7]
• Mike Lynch, state representative and former Minority Leader of the Colorado House of Representatives^[7]
• Scott Melbye, nuclear energy executive^[8]
• Chris Phelen, businessman and former policy advisor to U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema^[8]
• Jerry Sonnenberg, Logan County commissioner and former president pro tempore of the Colorado Senate^[9]
• Floyd Trujillo, energy consultant and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014^[8]
• Peter Yu, mortgage banker, nominee for the 2nd district in 2018, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022^[8]

Withdrawn

• Deborah Flora, radio host and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022 (unsuccessfully ran in the regular primary)^[5]

Declined

• Lauren Boebert, U.S. Representative from the 3rd district (running in regular primary)^[10]

Endorsements

Greg Lopez

State legislators

• Richard Holtorf, state representative^[11]

Jerry Sonnenberg (eliminated)

State legislators

• Ted Harvey, former state senator and candidate for the 6th district in 2008^[11]

Declined to endorse

U.S. representatives

• Ken Buck, incumbent U.S. representative for this district^[9]

Convention results

Republican convention results[11]
Candidate	First ballot		Second ballot		Third ballot		Fourth ballot		Fifth ballot		Sixth ballot
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Greg Lopez	12	12.2%	17	17.3%	27	27.6%	34	34.7%	45	45.9%	51	52.6%
Jerry Sonnenberg	23	23.5%	24	24.5%	24	24.5%	24	24.5%	30	30.6%	46	47.4%
Ted Harvey	24	24.5%	27	27.6%	24	24.5%	26	26.5%	23	23.5%	Eliminated
Richard Holtorf	12	12.2%	13	13.3%	16	16.3%	14	14.3%	Eliminated
Mike Lynch	11	11.2%	10	10.2%	7	7.1%	Eliminated
Scott Melbye	10	10.2%	4	4.1%	Eliminated
Chris Phelen	6	6.1%	4	4.1%	Eliminated
Floyd Trujillo	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	Eliminated
Peter Yu	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	Eliminated

Democratic nomination

The Democratic nominee was chosen at a meeting on April 1, 2024.^[12]

Nominee

• Trisha Calvarese, communications professional^[13]

Eliminated at convention

• Karen Breslin, attorney, college professor, and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2022^[13]
• Ike McCorkle, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and nominee for this district in 2020 and 2022^[13]
• John Padora, engineer^[13]

Convention results

Democratic convention results[14]
Candidate	First ballot	Second ballot		Third ballot
	%	%	%	%
Trisha Calvarese	31.8%	47.2%		64.5%
John Padora	29.0%	26.4%	56.6%	35.5%
Ike McCorkle	26.5%	26.4%	43.4%	Eliminated
Karen Breslin	12.8%	Eliminated

Minor party nominations

Candidates

• Frank Atwood (Approval Voting), chair of the Approval Voting Party and perennial candidate^[15]
• Hannah Goodman (Libertarian), chair of the Colorado Libertarian Party^[16]

General election

Results

2024 Colorado's 4th congressional district vacancy election^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Greg Lopez	100,095	58.40%
	Democratic	Trisha Calvarese	59,013	34.43%
	Libertarian	Hannah Goodman	9,069	5.29%
	Approval Voting	Frank Atwood	3,225	1.88%
Total votes			171,402	100.00%
	Republican hold

By county

County Greg Lopez Republican Trisha Calvarese Democratic Hannah Goodman Libertarian Frank Atwood AVP Margin Total votes # % # % # % # % # % Adams 1,656 68.5 494 20.4 160 6.6 107 4.4 1,162 48.1 2,417 Arapahoe 2,881 50.7 2,413 42.5 292 5.1 96 1.7 468 8.2 5,682 Baca 754 81.1 116 12.5 45 4.8 15 1.6 638 68.6 930 Bent 777 70.4 231 20.9 63 5.7 33 3.0 546 49.5 1,104 Cheyenne 541 87.3 38 6.1 28 4.5 13 2.1 503 81.2 620 Crowley 662 74.6 161 18.2 43 4.8 21 2.4 501 56.4 887 Douglas 45,311 52.3 35,088 40.5 4,618 5.3 1,623 1.9 10,223 11.8 86,640 El Paso 1,731 79.7 297 13.7 115 5.3 29 1.3 1,434 66.0 2,172 Elbert 6,536 74.4 1,669 19.0 459 5.2 121 1.4 4,867 55.4 8,785 Kiowa 311 83.6 33 8.9 19 5.1 9 2.4 278 74.7 372 Kit Carson 1,537 82.6 222 11.9 76 4.1 26 1.4 1,315 70.7 1,861 Larimer 12,536 49.1 11,303 44.3 1,256 4.9 430 1.7 1,233 4.8 25,525 Lincoln 981 79.4 165 13.4 65 5.3 24 1.9 816 66.0 1,235 Logan 3,649 75.6 825 17.1 240 5.0 115 2.4 2,824 58.5 4,829 Morgan 3,903 73.3 1,027 19.3 287 5.4 107 2.0 2,876 54.0 5,324 Phillips 1,031 77.5 156 11.7 114 8.6 30 2.3 875 65.8 1,331 Prowers 1,924 76.4 421 16.7 125 5.0 47 1.9 1,503 59.7 2,517 Sedgwick 546 74.4 125 17.0 38 5.2 25 3.4 421 57.4 734 Washington 1,398 85.5 121 7.4 79 4.8 37 2.3 1,277 78.1 1,635 Weld 9,656 66.1 3,862 26.4 820 5.6 278 1.9 5,794 39.7 14,616 Yuma 1,774 81.2 246 11.3 127 5.8 39 1.8 1,528 69.9 2,186 Total 100,095 58.4 59,013 34.4 9,069 5.3 3,225 1.9 41,082 24.0 171,402