Updated at 11:43 p.m. on July 6, 2025.
Trisha Calvarese has won the Democratic Primary for Colorado's 4th Congressional District. As of 11:42 p.m., Calvarese had 45.26 percent of the vote with Ike McCorkle in second place with 41.13 percent of the vote.
John Padora, Jr. was in a distant third place with 13.6 percent.
The winner of the contest will take on Republican Lauren Boebert, the conservative incumbent in the 3rd District who recently moved tot he eastern side of the state to run in the 4th District.
“I mean, it was pretty remarkable. We showed up. We were the last ones in this race,” Calvarese said who claimed victory during her interview with CPR News. McCorkle has not conceded the race.
“We started in January after Boebert announced, with no money and a cell phone," she said.
She credited hard work and grassroots organizing.
“I personally made thousands of calls. And it's my message that I am from here,” she said. “I'm a daughter of the district and I am running to serve the people of our district first. Not politics, it's people.”
While she appears headed to victory in the Democratic primary, Calvarese lost in the CD4 Special Election to Greg Lopez. He won the contest to replace resigning Rep. Ken Buck with 58.62 percent of the vote, Clavarese had 34.22 percent in that contest.
Calvarese describes herself as the “hometown” candidate. She was raised in Highlands Ranch, then left Colorado to work for the U.S. Civil Service and the AFL-CIO before returning to the state in the fall of 2023 to care for her aging parents. Both died in the last year and she spoke from their home. “I returned to provide end of life care because both of my parents had cancer and they passed away last fall in the comfort of home,” she said.
Even if she holds onto the Democratic victory, her loss in the special election may foretell a challenging race against Boebert who, though controversial, has a national following and is likely to have deep pockets.
When asked if she could win, Calvarese said: "We have a poll that shows we can, I need folks to pitch in though so that I can get my message out.”
