U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert secured the top spot on the Republican primary ballot in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District by winning the delegate vote at Friday’s GOP district assembly in Pueblo.

“I said I don’t care if I have to go to that assembly on a stretcher!” Boebert said to cheers that echoed inside an arena at the State Fairgrounds.

Boebert underwent surgery Tuesday after doctors diagnosed her with a condition that disrupts blood flow and found a blood clot in her leg and. Boebert’s physician said she is expected to make a full recovery.

At the same time, one of Boebert’s chief primary rivals, former state Sen. Ted Harvey of Highlands Ranch – the only Republican in the field who put all his chips on the assembly process – failed to receive the necessary delegate support to qualify for the ballot.

Two other candidates, meanwhile, didn’t make the ballot but still have hope if their petitions are ruled sufficient. Former state Sen. Jerry Sonnenberg of Sterling nor state Rep. Richard Holtorf of Akron each came up short in the delegate vote but kept their votes above the point-of-no-return threshold that would have prevented them from qualifying by petition.

In Colorado, candidates have three options to make the primary ballot: by turning in a sufficient number of petition signatures – 1,500 for congressional races; by receiving at least 30% support at nominating assemblies; or, by taking both routes.

Candidates who go with the hybrid option have the same petition requirements but need only get 10% of the delegate vote. The candidate who finishes in the lead at assembly wins top-line designation on the primary ballot.

At Friday’s assembly, Boebert got 40% of the vote, followed by Harvey at 25%, Sonnenberg at 18% and Holtorf at 15%.

“I promised that I was not going to treat this as a coronation or something that was owed to me,” Boebert told the crowd after results were announced, “but that I would work every day and travel county to county and hear from you all and earn your support and earn your vote.”

Boebert moved from the more competitive Western Colorado district she’s represented for two terms into the reliably Republican district.

Before her assembly win, Boebert already qualified for the primary by petition. So had Deborah Flora, a Douglas County filmmaker and former talk radio host, who declined to go through the assembly.

In addition to Sonnenberg and Holtorf, another four Republicans are awaiting word on petitions they submitted last month – state Rep. Mike Lynch of Wellington, oil and gas industry advocate Floyd Trujillo, former top congressional aide Chris Phelen and business consultant Peter Yu.

It’s a complicated playing field taking shape for the Eastern Colorado seat abandoned by former U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, the Windsor Republican who said in November that he wouldn’t seek reelection and then announced in March that he would resign at the end of the following week.

That triggered a special election on June 25 – the same day as the primary – to fill the remainder of Buck’s term, through the end of the year.

Greg Lopez, a former Parker mayor and two-time gubernatorial candidate, won the GOP nomination for the special election at a convention late last month. He’ll face first-time candidate Trisha Calvarese, the Democratic nominee, and Hannah Goodman, the Colorado Libertarian Party’s chairwoman and her party’s nominee.

Democrats plan to hold their nominating assembly for the primary election on April 11. Candidates include Calvarese, Marine veteran and the party’s previous nominee for the seat Ike McCorkle, mechanical engineer John Padora and attorney and political science professor Karen Breslin.