Colorado Republican Ken Buck Confirms 2024 Retirement
The Congressman has represented the state's rural eastern region since January 2015.
Representative Ken Buck of Colorado, a Republican, has today announced that he will not seek a sixth term representing the state’s 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. His retirement comes after he was one of eight House Republicans to vote to remove Kevin McCarthy of California as Speaker.
Buck, 64, is the 23rd retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives for the upcoming 2024 cycle - 15 Democrats and 8 Republicans. He is the fourth House Republican to retire without seeking another political office - joining Debbie Lesko of Arizona, Victoria Spartz of Indiana and Kay Granger of Texas.
Buck has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since January 2015. Colorado’s 4th Congressional District covers the rural Eastern Plains region of the state - including the cities of Loveland, Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock and Parker. It is currently the most Republican district in Colorado’s congressional delegation.
In 1990, Buck joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado as an Assistant U.S. Attorney - eventually becoming Chief of the Office’s Criminal Division. In 2004, he was elected District Attorney for Weld County - holding that office until 2014. In 2010, he was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat in Colorado. He faced off against Democrat Michael Bennett - who was appointed to the seat following Democrat Ken Salazar’s resignation in January 2009 to become U.S. Secretary of the Interior. Bennett won a full six-year term with a 48.1-46.4 victory against Buck.
In 2014, Buck initially announced another Senate campaign. He sought the seat then held by Democrat Mark Udall. However, he withdrew from the race after U.S. Representative Cory Gardner entered and ultimately sought the Republican nomination for Gardner’s House seat. Buck earned the nomination with 44.2% in the Republican primary and won the general election 64.7-29.2 against Democrat Vic Meyers. Meanwhile, Gardner unseated Udall 48.2-46.3 - which helped flip control of the upper legislative chamber to Republicans.
In the 118th Congress, Buck serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Software engineer Justin Schreiber and businessman Trent Leisy announced 2024 Republican primary campaigns for the congressional seat before Buck shared his retirement. Meanwhile, 2020 and 2022 nominee Ike McCorkle is once again seeking the Democratic nomination - where he faces engineer John Padora in the primary.
Under the current lines, Donald Trump won Colorado’s 4th Congressional District with a 57-41 finish against Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. That came as Biden was carrying the state 55.4-41.9 in his ultimately successful national campaign.