Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn said Friday that he won’t seek a 10th term representing Colorado’s 5th Congressional District.

The Colorado Springs lawmaker’s stunning announcement means that all three of the state’s GOP-held U.S. House districts will be open next year, following Silt Republican Lauren Boebert’s decision last week to seek another term in the district held by retiring U.S. Rep. Ken Buck.

“I will not be running for reelection,” Lamborn told KVOR’s Richard Randall. “I am going to retire at the end of 2024, so the 5th Congressional District seat will be open, as is the 3rd and the 4th – and I’m not running for either of those two seats, either.”

Lamborn dropped the bombshell news after he reviewed what he called the top accomplishments of his 17-year congressional career with the talk radio host, led by keeping the headquarters of U.S. Space Command in Colorado.

First elected to Congress in 2006, the former state lawmaker chairs a key subcommittee on the House Armed Services Committee.

“Well, I’m not getting any younger. I want to spend time with my children, grandchildren, with my wife,” Lamborn said. “I want to look for opportunities to do good. I’m going to finish out strong.”

Lamborn, an attorney and former state lawmaker, noted that he will have spent 30 years in public office by the end of this term.

“I want to thank the people of El Paso County for supporting me for the last 17 years, for elections here in Congress and for 12 years before that,” he said. “That’s 29 years. At the end of this year, it’ll be 30 years.”

Lamborn said his decision was inspired in part by reading Ecclesiastes.

“There’s a time for everything. There’s a time to gather stones and there’s a time to throw stones. And there’s a time to build up, there’s a time to tear down,” he said, citing the biblical verses.

“There are seasons in our lives, and for me, this chapter is coming to a close. I’m excited about and I don’t know all the details of what will come in the future. But I love this country. I love this state. I love this county and city. And that’s why I’ve given so many years of service to it. It hasn’t always been easy. There’s been some downs, but there’s been a lot of ups … And I think that it’s been a real awesome responsibility.”

As chairman of the military panel’s subcommittee on strategic forces, Lamborn said he’ll have a full plate for the rest of the year.

“I’ve got a great committee position, as you know, and a lot of ongoing projects, like building our hypersonic fleet, that we’re so far behind the Chinese and Russians, it’s it’s sad,” he said. “So there’s vital things I’m going to be working on – modernizing our nuclear forces, because we’re behind on that as well. So there’s great things I’m going to work on.”

Lamborn told Randall that he intends to finish his term by focusing on legislating instead of politics.

“I’m going to work hard, I won’t be doing any politics,” Lamborn said. “I’ll be concentrating on legislating, so maybe I’ll even get more done than before. This will be a good year. It would be a good strong year, but I’ll be watching with interest others who might be coming forward, throwing their hat in the ring. And I know there’s some good people out there.”

While five Democrats and a handful of third-party candidates have already launched campaigns for the heavily Republican, El Paso County-based seat, Lamborn had yet to attract a primary challenger.

Colorado Republican Party Chairman Dave Williams, the former state legislator who lost a primary challenge against Lamborn in 2022, told Colorado Politics that he’s considering running again for the seat.

“Well that makes me reconsider a number of things,” Williams said in a text message. “Needless to say I’ll be making a decision very soon on my future. I’ll need to call President Trump soon.”

The race to replace Lamborn could rival the Republican primary in Buck’s 4th Congressional District, which already features 11 candidates, including Boebert and several current and former state lawmakers.

Other potential candidates for Lamborn’s seat include former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, El Paso County Commissioners Stan VanderWerf and Longinos Gonzalez, former U.S. Senate candidate Eli Bremer, talk radio host Jeff Crank, former top Lamborn aide Cassandra Sebastian, former Trump administration official Dan Nordberg and defense industry executive Karl Schneider, a former vice chairman of the county GOP.

The county’s legislative delegation could yield numerous candidates for the seat, including state Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, state Sen. Bob Gardner and Assistant House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese, a former Mesa County commissioner. Former state lawmakers whose names were floated on Friday include Tim Geitner, Terri Carver and Mark Waller.

Whoever decides to run will likely move quickly. Candidates can begin circulating petitions to get on the ballot later this month, and precinct caucuses in El Paso County are scheduled for March 7. The primary is June 25.

Lamborn said he has no immediate plans to anoint a successor.

“I’m gonna keep my powder dry. This is a situation like it was 17 years ago,” Lamborn told the talk radio host, referring to the crowded primary Lamborn won in 2006. “Many are called, but few are chosen.”

Editor’s note: This developing story has been updated.