Colorado Republican who always struggled to win decides to stop trying

Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn, whose career in Congress has been defined by a series of underwhelming primary victories, announced on Friday that he wouldn't seek a 10th term in Colorado's 5th District. His constituency, which is based in the Colorado Springs area, favored Donald Trump 53-43 in 2020, so the winner of the June 25 GOP primary will be favored in this longtime conservative bastion.

The filing deadline is March 19, and as we recently wrote following fellow Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert's attempt to swap districts, getting on the ballot is often a difficult task in the Centennial State. Boebert's decision to run to succeed retiring Rep. Ken Buck in the 4th District rather than defend the 3rd also means that, with Lamborn retiring, all three of the state's GOP-held House seats will be open this year.

Lamborn first got his start in elected office in 1994, when he won a seat in the state House, though he soon earned an appointment to the upper chamber, in early 1996. Lamborn was still in the state Senate a decade later when Republican Rep. Joel Hefley decided to retire, a move that gave Lamborn the opportunity to seek a further promotion.