Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, a onetime idolized Tea Party conservative, had already announced he wouldn’t run for reelection after daring to voice that his party has gone crazy. This week, though, to the irritation of Speaker Johnson, Buck announced that he’d peace out next week. “It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in Congress,” Buck told CNN after his announcement, “and having talked to former members, it’s the worst year in 40, 50 years to be in Congress.” Sure, it’s a tough situation up there. A side effect of Buck’s decision, though, is to complicate the race for his replacement. His district, Colorado’s 4th, is the one that Rep. Lauren Boebert had resettled in for a better chance at maintaining employment. In order to run in the special election for Buck’s seat—scheduled for June 25—Boebert would have had to resign her current seat. That would have A) given Democrats a chance to win a special election for Boebert’s seat, further imperiling the slim Republican majority, and B) deprived Boebert of a paycheck. Boebert announced on Thursday that she wouldn’t run in the special election for Buck’s seat but would remain on the ballot in the primary for the next Congress, which is also June 25. For Boebert to have a chance at a seat in the next Congress, then, primary voters will have to vote for one candidate in a special election, then Boebert in the primary for a full term—when other candidates in the race can compete in both. In a campaign statement, Boebert described Buck’s sudden departure as “a gift to the Uniparty” and “a swampy backroom deal to try to rig an election I’m winning by 25 points.” It’s unlikely that Buck has ever been invited to take part in a backroom deal with the Uniparty. But, yeah, he probably gamed out the implications.