EXCLUSIVE — Former Parker, Colorado , Mayor Greg Lopez carries a Rorschach test in his pocket that shows both a young and old woman depending on the viewer's perspective — a symbol of the way he plans to approach conversations with House members if elected to replace Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) in a special election this summer.
Sitting outside in a park behind the Longworth House Office Building, Lopez showed the Washington Examiner the picture, explaining that the analogy represents how he holds discussions with people on the "opposite side" of his position.
"It's not that you're wrong. It's not that I'm wrong," Lopez said. "Because we are looking at it from our worldview. Right? But let's come together and recognize, 'Let's respect each other.'"
Colorado Republicans selected Lopez to be their candidate and likely winner of the June 25 special election shortly after Buck departed from Congress early on March 22. Given that Colorado’s 4th District is a solid red seat, Lopez likely will win this summer and serve out the remainder of Buck’s term through the new year.
Buck's full-time successor will also likely be decided in a primary on June 25, with the leading candidate being Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO). Currently representing the 3rd District of Colorado, Boebert switched to the 4th District when it became clear winning reelection against Adam Frisch, the Democratic candidate in 2022 who returned for a second shot at Boebert's seat, would be difficult.
Boebert and the seven other GOP primary candidates will not face a challenge from Lopez this summer. The congresswoman praised Lopez in a statement following his selection in late March.
“Congratulations to Greg Lopez, who will be a strong Congressman finishing out the remainder of Ken BUCKLE’S term!” Boebert wrote on social media. "Greg stepped up with a servant heart and a leadership mindset with accountability being his driving force."
Lopez said that, if elected, he would only serve six months because there were already "outstanding" Republican candidates who were running in the regular election.
"I'm not coming up here, you know, saying 'I want to change the world,'" Lopez said. "I'm coming up here — I feel like I've been called to duty. I'm a veteran. And so I've been called to duty, and I'm going to honor that duty to the best of my ability, and then I get to go home."
He added that he would support any of the candidates, Boebert included, for the full-term GOP nomination. Because he would only be in Congress for a short time, Lopez said his goal is to educate his district.
"How can a congressman help you, as a constituent, with the needs and concerns you have — whether it's passports, whether it's, how do you make sure that the federal government's there to assist you when you have challenges? Right?" Lopez said.
"And so being a public servant is for me, it's always been: Never forget who you're representing and making sure that you always are connected with them," he continued.
If elected, Lopez will join a tumultuous Republican conference and a narrow House GOP majority. Buck's resignation narrowed the GOP majority in the House even further, and now with Rep. Mike Gallagher's (R-WI) resignation last week, the majority sits at 217-213 — meaning Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) can only afford to lose one vote to pass a measure along party lines.
Lopez's visit to the Capitol last week came during a chaotic showdown between hard-line conservatives and Johnson over four-pronged foreign aid legislation that eventually passed the House on Saturday. Johnson's days as speaker are possibly numbered after several upset GOP members called him a "lame duck," particularly after the Ukraine aid bill passed without a majority of Republican support.
Lopez once belonged to the Democratic Party but changed affiliations to the Republican Party after he and his wife, Lisa, got married and studied the national platforms, he said. He would not speak to the chaos of the Republican Party or where he finds himself on the political spectrum — but he said because of his connections to both affiliations, he thinks he will be able to bring back something that he feels Congress has lost: mutual respect.
"We all have an opinion, and we should all listen to each other," the former mayor said. "That doesn't mean that we need to agree 100%. But having respect enough to say, 'Can you help me understand? Can you help me understand why you see it in a certain direction?' I think that's going to go a long ways.
"My hope is that, you know, in some manner and in some small way, when I go back home, someone's going to say, 'You remember what Greg Lopez used to tell us? Maybe we should do some of that,'" he continued. "That's my hope."
In the spirit of wanting to build relationships with rank-and-file Republicans and their hard-line colleagues, Lopez met House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good (R-VA) and requested to meet with Problem Solvers Caucus Chairman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) last week.
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"I think that he'll be a good member," Good told the Washington Examiner. "I think he's in a strong position to win that seat in the special election on June 25. And I'm glad he's the nominee and I look forward to serving with him for six months or so."
The meeting with Fitzpatrick did not happen, a spokesperson for Lopez said. The Washington Examiner reached out to Boebert and Fitzpatrick for comment.
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