HUGO, Colo. — A vacancy committee on Thursday selected the Republican nominee to replace former Congressman Ken Buck in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District.
After several rounds of voting, the vacancy committee chose Greg Lopez, a two-time gubernatorial candidate and former mayor of Parker. He’ll appear on the ballot on June 25 for the special election to fill the seat.
Lopez is no stranger to controversy. When he ran for governor in 2018 and 2022, his views on issues like abortion were front and center on the campaign trail, along with past troubles in his personal life, including a domestic violence incident in 1993.
“It's life. I'm just like everybody else,” Lopez said to Denver7 in a 2022 interview. “Have I made mistakes? Sure I have. Have I learned from them? Of course, I have. You know, these are things that make character, make people better.”
Lopez and his wife discussed the domestic violence incident in a video released during his run for governor.
Lopez said he does not support abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.
“When it comes to rape and incest, look, those are traumatic things. I'm not saying that we can't be compassionate when those types of things happen,” said Lopez in 2022. “But we have laws against those already. We need to enforce those laws. And this is where the pregnancy resource centers come in, you know, where they can help a female decide, you know, what's moving forward. Because there's a lot of parents that are looking for children, right? Looking to adopt, looking for the ability to have a family. So, I think there's a lot of options.”
Lopez also said the science was "still out" on climate change.
“I’m not the expert. When it comes to those types of things, I think we need to look at the trends of our environment,” said Lopez during the 2022 interview.
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Lopez, accusing him of violating federal law by improperly influencing former colleagues at the Small Business Administration, where he worked. The case was eventually settled.
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The 4th Congressional District is heavily Republican, but Democrats say they’re not giving up.
“Our motto is ‘compete everywhere,’” said Shad Murib, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party. “You can't win if you don't compete.”
Murib called Lopez “a scandal-ridden politician” and said his “hyper-political views fly in the face of rural values.”
“I think they've made a terrible choice for their nominee, and it seems like they're going to continue to make terrible choices for this district and the future,” said Murib. “So, we're looking forward to competing everywhere and making sure we're fueling Democrats in every race.”
Democrats in the 4th Congressional District will also choose their party’s nominee next week through a vacancy committee. The Democratic nominee will face Lopez in the special election in June.
Lopez said if he wins the special election, he intends to be a “placeholder” member of Congress and has no interest in serving a full term of his own.
The special election will be held the same day voters choose the party nominees for November’s election. Nearly a dozen Republicans, including Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, are running to serve a full term, which would start in January.
Lopez agreed to an interview with Denver7 on Friday, but his team canceled a short time later, saying he was too busy.
