DENVER (CN) — In 2018, firebrand Lauren Boebert rode MAGA momentum from small town restaurateur to representative of Colorado’s largest congressional district. Boebert’s rise also marked the state party’s decline.
Since Donald Trump was elected president, Colorado Republicans have struggled to select candidates who can win in increasingly competitive districts as the purple state tinted blue and Democrats swept through the statehouse, the executive branch and both seats in the U.S. Senate.
“There's the America First MAGA Republicans and then there's the older moderates who are libertarian on social issues, but conservative on economic issues,” explained Kenneth Bickers, a political science professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.
As the June 25 state primary draws near, Republican candidates are vying for votes on the promise that they are the ones who can beat Democrats in November.
Boebert's former district up for grabs
Take the 3rd Congressional District, which Boebert narrowly defended in 2022, spanning large swaths of rural Colorado on the western border with Utah and south along New Mexico.
“That district leans Republican, but Adam Frisch came really close the last time against Boebert and has raised buckets of money. He's got a lot of name recognition. He is now an experienced campaigner,” Bickers said.
Frisch, a former Aspen City councilman, went on what he called the Beat Boebert BBQ Tour in 2022, traveling thousands of miles to court independent and disenfranchised Republicans to his campaign against the brassy incumbent. Frisch lost to Boebert by about 500 votes, indicating not just that she was vulnerable but that the district could be flipped.
While Frisch has more than $12 million in the bank and is uncontested in the Democratic primary, he will not be running against Boebert, who has moved to another Republican stronghold across the state. Instead, he will face one of six men running to fill Boebert’s shoes.
A poll from analytics company co/efficient puts Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd in the lead, with former state Representative Ron Hanks trailing by 18 points. Although Hanks has raised less than $10,000, he received endorsements from both Trump and the state party. Hanks has maintained a small but loyal base by keeping alive unfounded claims of 2020 election tampering and for his presence in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
A previous clerk for U.S. Circuit Judge Timothy Tymkovich, Hurd is making his first foray into politics, but he leads fundraising and endorsements with almost $1 million in the bank and backing from Colorado’s last Republican governor, Bill Owens.
Financial advisor and political newcomer Russ Andrews is reaching for Hurd’s coattails with the second-highest amount of money raised, $367,369. Andrews told Courthouse News he was inspired to run after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker from the U.S. House of Representatives last year.
“I felt that we weren't really being represented. I also felt that in my district, our tax dollars weren't finding their way back home,” Andrews said. He is one of many Republicans who has clashed with state party chair Dave Williams.
Culture warriors vs. conservatives
Under Williams’ controversial leadership, the state party broke a tradition of primary neutrality to endorse candidates before voters had a say, and changed party rules to try to close the primary to unaffiliated voters. When a vote among members didn't pass, Williams brought the issue to court and lost.
In another unprecedented move, Williams declined to resign from his party post as he pursues office in the state’s 5th Congressional District.
A recent email characterizing Pride month as a celebration of “godless groomers” proved to be the straw that broke the elephant’s back, prompting efforts to recall Williams.
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