Colorado's 4th congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

. Located in the eastern part of the state, the district encompasses most of the rural

Eastern Plains The Eastern Plains of Colorado refers to a region of the U.S. state of Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains and east of the population centers of the Front Range. Geography The Eastern Plains are part of the High Plains, which are the wester ...

as well as the larger Colorado

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...

cities of Greeley, Longmont, Castle Rock, and Parker. The district is currently represented by Republican

Ken Buck Kenneth Robert Buck (born February 16, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician who has represented Colorado's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2015. From March 30, 2019, to March 27, 2021, Buck s ...

. With a

Cook Partisan Voting Index The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...

rating of R+12, it is one of the most Republican districts in Colorado, especially since the 2012 redistricting removed

Fort Collins A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

from the district. No Democrat has seriously contested the district since 2010.

History

1990s

Following the 1990 U.S. Census and associated realignment of Colorado congressional districts, the 4th Congressional district consisted of Baca, Bent,

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enr ...

Crowley Crowley may refer to: Places * Crowley, Mendocino County, California, an unincorporated community *Crowley County, Colorado * Crowley, Colorado, a town in Crowley County *Crowley, Louisiana, a city * Crowley, Oregon (disambiguation) * Crowley, Te ...

, Elbert,

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...

, Larimer, Las Animas, Lincoln,

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gov ...

Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer ...

, Otero, Phillips, Prowers, Sedgwick,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

, Weld and Yuma counties, as well as portions of Adams and Arapahoe counties.

2000s

Following the

2000 U.S. Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 cen ...

and associated realignment of Colorado congressional districts, the 4th Congressional district consisted of Baca, Bent,

, Larimer, Lincoln,

, Phillips, Prowers, Sedgwick,

, Weld and Yuma counties, as well as portions of

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

, and Otero counties.

2010s

Following the 2010 U.S. Census and associated realignment of Colorado congressional districts, the 4th Congressional district consisted of Baca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Elbert, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Las Animas, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan, Otero, Phillips, Prowers, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and Yuma counties. The district also includes portions of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder and

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals *Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

counties and very little portions of Larimer County.

Characteristics

This district consists mainly of the area of Colorado that is part of the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, a ...

region of the United States. It is largely

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are de ...

. The only large cities in the district are Loveland,

Highlands Ranch Highlands Ranch is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The p ...

, Castle Rock, and Parker. Until the 2010s redistricting,

was the largest city in the district and provided a large Democratic base, making the district somewhat competitive: before the 2020 redistricting, Greeley was the largest city in the district but has since been moved to the 8th district. While the 4th takes in some suburbs of the Democratic-leaning

Denver metropolitan area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver r ...

, the 4th takes in the most Republican region of Metro Denver - Douglas County, the only Republican leaning county in the area: however, it is still far more friendly to the Democrats than the other counties in the district (especially in the blue-leaning cities of

and Lone Tree) and is the only area in the district with any Democratic support of real significance. On the other hand, the district takes in some of the most Republican counties in Colorado, such as

, and Rio Blanco, where Democrats rarely exceed even 20 percent of the vote. Historically, the district has been Republican-leaning, though

Marilyn Musgrave Marilyn Neoma Musgrave (née Shuler; born January 27, 1949), American politician, is a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives who served from 2003 to 2009, representing the 4th District of Colorado. Musgrave ser ...

won relatively narrow victories in 2004 and 2006 due to her Democratic opponents' strength in Fort Collins. Musgrave had to rely on strong performances in more conservative Greeley to hold onto her seat. In 2008, Musgrave lost reelection to Betsy Markey, who became the first Democrat to represent the district since the early 1970s. Markey was defeated in 2010 by Republican

Cory Gardner Cory Scott Gardner (born August 22, 1974) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2015 to 2021. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for Colorado's 4th congressional dis ...

, and the district was made more Republican in redistricting due to the removal of Fort Collins; no Democratic nominee has won more than 40% of the vote since she left office. George W. Bush received 58% of the vote in this district in 2004.

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two te ...

narrowly carried the district in 2008 with 50% of the vote.

Voting

Election results from presidential racesPresidential Election Results, by district
swingstateproject.com

List of members representing the district

Election results

1914

1916

1918

1920

1922

1924

1926

1928

1930

1932

1934

1936

1938

1940

1941 (Special)

1942

1944

1946

1948

1950

1952

1954

1956

1958

1960

1962

1964

1966

1968

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

Historical district boundaries

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

External links

Interactive map of Colorado's 4th Congressional District
{{coord, 39, 04, 15, N, 103, 24, 50, W, region:US_type:city_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title 4 Eastern Plains 1915 establishments in Colorado