Lauren Boebert’s race gets more crowded: Another Republican has launched a challenge to Rep. Lauren Boebert, with an attorney jumping into the race.
Lauren Boebert Gets Another Challenger
There are reasons to think that Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is vulnerable in her race for re-election in 2024. Boebert, frequently in the news for stunts, outrageous comments, and confrontations with other lawmakers, nearly lost in 2022, when she defeated her Democratic opponent Adam Frisch by only 546 votes.
It was the closest House race in the country in the 2022 cycle, despite not being seen by many observers as a close race ahead of time, and Frisch is running against Boebert again. Fundraising reports show that Frisch has significantly outraged Boebert the last two quarters, with both the Democratic Party and donors clearly eyeing the Colorado race as a major priority in the 2024 cycle.
Now, Boebert will have yet another opponent in 2024.
Jeff Hurd, an attorney in Grand Junction, has jumped into the race against Boebert on the Republican side, Insider reported this week. Hurd is a former board chair of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I’ve decided to enter the race to give Republican primary voters an option and a choice,” Hurd told the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel newspaper. “This seat is very vulnerable in what would otherwise be a very safe seat (for conservatives). Being a Republican is in my DNA.”
Hurd was also clear that he has a very different approach to politics than the woman he’s trying to unseat.
“I’m not interested in becoming a social media celebrity or in garnering a lot of press. I’m interested in helping families and helping businesses and helping communities,” Hurd added in the newspaper interview.
“I’m not interested in becoming a social media celebrity or in garnering a lot of press. I’m interested in helping families and helping businesses and helping communities.”
The Republican primary, as of now, will feature Boebert, Hurd, and financial advisor Russ Andrews. Andrews appears to be offering a drama-free alternative to Boebert, albeit one that hasn’t entirely broken from culture war narratives.
“I Stand For Freedom, The 2nd Amendment And What’s Right For Our Community. Let’s Bring Drama Free And Logic Based Solutions Back To Colorado District 3,” Andrews’ website says, as reported by Insider.
Another candidate from Grand Junction, Mayor Anna Stout, is running against Frisch on the Democratic side, along with three other candidates, Debby Burnett, David Karpas, and Adam Withrow.
It’s an unusually crowded primary for a House seat, although Colorado’s Third Congressional District is unusually large by land area.
As for Boebert, she has been up to her usual antics of late. Last week, she ripped President Biden’s response to the wildfires in Hawaii. She also took a shot at Rachel Levine, the Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services, for visiting a health clinic called Identity Alaska. This follows her confrontation on the floor of the House with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), her former friend, in which they argued over their rival impeachment resolutions.
Earlier this month, Boebert got into a tiff with a left-leaning Colorado group called Rocky Mountain Values, over Boebert’s opposition to the PACT Act, per Colorado Politics. That’s a law signed by President Biden in 2022 to provide “expanded health care and disability compensation for veterans exposed to toxic substances during their service,” as described by the site.
The campaign by Rocky Mountain Values, which cost six figures, features a Marine veteran named George Autobee denouncing Boebert for opposing the law.
“George and progressive, dark-money groups can keep shoveling money into attacking Congresswoman Boebert, but 3rd District voters know better when it comes to her strong record of supporting our veterans,” Boebert’s campaign manager told the site. He added that Boebert opposed the bill because it was “poorly drafted,” and also objected to language in it that “made a distinction between gender and biological sex.”
Author Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles over the years that focus on politics, technology, and the economy for over a decade. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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