Jeff Hurd wins GOP nomination in 3rd Congressional District, will face Frisch in November (2024)

Lew Webb, of Durango, did well with La Plata County voters

Voters in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District will send Grand Junction Attorney Jeff Hurd off to face Democratic former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch in November.

La Plata County voters favored hometown candidate Lew Webb of Durango in the hotly contested six-way primary race among Republicans to replace U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert.

Boebert announced in December that she would run in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, which covers most of eastern Colorado, after nearly losing her last race in the 3rd District.

Boebert won her primary in the 4th Congressional District, all but assuring that she will return to Congress given the district is comprised overwhelmingly of GOP voters.

“The clear message that I got from voters is that they're serious about keeping this district Republican and bringing conservative values to Washington,” Hurd said in an interview with The Durango Herald after his victory.

In La Plata County, ballots from 11,500 voters – 27.8% of the county’s 41,424 active voters – had been counted as of 10:10 p.m.

Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee had anticipated a voter turnout somewhere between 25% and 30%.

In La Plata County, Hurd received 27% of the votes, second to Webb, who secured 35% of GOP ballots.

The Associated Press called the race for Hurd at 8:15 p.m. He had secured 42% of the 75,000 ballots counted across the district. Former state Rep. Ron Hanks, the most far right of the six candidates, captured 28% of the votes.

Candidates in uncontested primaries running for state Senate, state House, state Board of Education, Colorado University Board of Regents, district attorney and county commissioner all cruised to victory.

Full results can be found on the Colorado Secretary of State’s website.

There was only one contested race on each of the Democratic and Republican ballots.

Former teacher and education attorney Elliot Hood and Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Ball Corp. Charles “CJ” Johnson, both Democrats, are facing off for an at-large seat on the CU Board of Regents.

The most exciting contest, however, was between the six Republicans running for Boebert’s seat.

Tuesday’s election was the first opportunity Republican and independent voters had to weigh in on what kind of politician they want to replace Boebert since she announced in December that she would run in the 4th Congressional District in eastern Colorado.

Webb made a point to position himself as an outsider who was not in a mood to compromise.

“Our government is totally corrupt,” he said at a debate earlier this month. “I am not going to Washington, D.C., to make friends, to get along, to reach across the aisle or to compromise. I’m going to Washington, D.C., to pick a fight – a big one, one that we all have to win. Papaw is going to Washington, D.C., and they’re not gonna like me very much.”

However it was Hurd, arguably the most traditional Republican in the race, who emerged victorious.

Boebert, a firebrand conservative, leaves a hole in Western Slope politics – one that voters appear ready to fill with a new sort of conservative.

Hurd was endorsed by a laundry list of Republicans, including Boebert predecessors former U.S. Reps. Scott Tipton and Scott McInnis, former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown and former Gov. Bill Owens.

Even as of election night, Hurd would not disclose who he plans to vote for in the November presidential election, but said he shares the top two priorities of former President and Republican front-runner Donald Trump: securing the border and energy independence.

“There will be no more effective advocate in Congress for those priorities than me,” he said.

Hurd has also remained relatively quiet on the issue of abortion access. He indicated he would not back a national abortion ban, but reiterated his pro-life stance and said he supports the rights of states to decide. Trump has relied on similar rhetoric, resulting in de facto support for near-total bans on abortion in some states.

Hanks, the second-place candidate, ran a hard-line conservative campaign and routinely attacked Hurd by calling him a “Republican In Name Only” or “RINO.”

“I would say to (Hanks’ supporters) ‘Look, we have a common goal here, which is to keep the seat Republican,’” Hurd said. “I know that they would prefer to have somebody that reflects their values much more than a Democrat from Aspen.”

Frisch released a written statement Tuesday night.

“The last thing our district needs is another corporate lawyer funded by corporate PAC money,” he said. “My presumptive opponent won’t have the backbone to stand up to Washington interests. He will choose a federal abortion ban over trusting the women of CD3 to have the freedom to make their own health care choices and he threatens one of our most precious resources: water. One of Hurd’s biggest backers is actively working to take San Luis Valley's water to the Denver metro area.”

In a near electoral upset in 2022, Frisch came within 546 votes of unseating Boebert in what was thought to be a solidly Republican district.

Hurd’s victory sets up a difficult race with Frisch in a district where the general consensus has been that any Republican – except maybe Boebert, who was bogged down by personal issues – is likely to win.

Democrats tried to boost Hanks’ profile, pegging him as a less formidable opponent than Hurd in the November general election, potentially signaling a tight race.

Frisch has raised $13.2 million since January 2023 – more than every candidate running for the U.S. House other than House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

As of June 5, Frisch had $3.77 million on hand; Hurd had $219,700 in the bank.

Hurd said he plans to travel the district extensively to close the fundraising gap.

“I'm not taking a break, not taking my foot off the gas one bit,” he said. “I'm going to work hard to earn every single vote and do everything I can to help families and small businesses and communities in southern and western Colorado succeed.”

rschafir@durangoherald.com