Lauren Boebert holds lead as ballot count in Colorado nears end

A winner in Colorado's closely watched — and closely contested — 3rd Congressional District race is expected to be declared as soon as today.

State of play: Wednesday marked the deadline for county clerks to receive military and overseas votes and for voters to fix ballot discrepancies, such as a missing signature.

• It's estimated that a few thousand ballots remain outstanding or unverified.
• All ballot counts must conclude by the end of the day Friday.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert — one of the most outspoken Republican members of Congress — held a 1,122-vote lead against Democratic challenger Adam Frisch, based on preliminary results Wednesday.

• With less than 1 percentage point separating the candidates, a mandatory recount is possible.
• The campaigns spent the last week since the election scrambling to "cure" bad ballots, and the national parties sent campaign aides to assist.

Why it matters: The contest is generating widespread attention as Republicans look to build their majority in the U.S. House.

• Democrats are eager to see an underdog upset of a national GOP firebrand lawmaker.

Catch up quick: The fact that Democrats are so close in a district where Republicans hold a 7.2-percentage-point advantage in voter registration illustrates the blue wave that hit Colorado for the second time in this midterm election.

• The two candidates split the district with Boebert leading in vote-dense Mesa County, home to Grand Junction, and northwestern Colorado counties.

• Frisch kept the race close by performing well in Pueblo on the district's eastern border where Democrats struggled in previous contests, the Colorado Sun reports.

What they're saying: Boebert, who has declined to say she will accept the results if she loses, blamed the close race on poor campaigns from fellow Republicans Joe O'Dea in the U.S. Senate contest and Heidi Ganahl in the governor's race. Still, she told CNN, she expects to win.

• Frisch, a former Aspen City Council member, told CPR the support he's received is overwhelming because people are "so shocked and they're so excited."