Attorney Jeff Hurd's primary bid against far-right Rep. Lauren Boebert won a high-profile endorsement on Thursday from former Gov. Bill Owens, who is the last Republican to lead Colorado. Owens made his announcement shortly after campaign finance reports revealed that Hurd raised a credible $410,000 during his opening quarter and ended September with $360,000 in the bank.
Owens, who left office in early 2007 after two terms, didn't directly address any of the many unfavorable stories about Boebert's behavior, including her ejection from a showing of the "Beetlejuice" musical last month. Still, the former governor unsubtly drew a distinction between the candidates. "Jeff is a man of character," he told Time's Mini Racker. "He is a hardworking, smart and sincere leader who will deliver for the district."
Hurd launched his campaign in August for western Colorado's 3rd District by declaring he was "committed to consensus-building" and touted his "proven track record of being part of the solution, not creating more problems." That's rarely an effective appeal with Republican primary voters, but Hurd has also argued that Boebert's theater incident "was the last straw" with many of her constituents.
Some local officials agree, telling Racker that the episode motivated them to back the challenger. Mesa County Commissioner Bobbie Daniel went still further and pointed to Boebert's unexpectedly weak 546-vote win last year against Democrat Adam Frisch, a narrow scrape that came despite Trump's 53-45 performance in the district in 2020. Frisch is seeking a rematch, and Daniel argued that the congresswoman's "latest round of self-inflicted wounds" was another sign that "we can't keep going on this trajectory and keep this seat."
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Republican voters have been exceedingly reluctant to dump embarrassing extremists like Boebert, but it's not unheard of. Just last year, fed-up GOP leaders in North Carolina ganged up on the unhinged Madison Cawthorn to deny him renomination, ending his congressional career after just a single term. Boebert is not immune to a similar fate.
However, she continues to be a potent fundraiser, bringing in a sizable $830,000 during the third quarter of 2023. Notably, though, her war chest actually shrank despite that haul because she burned through even more cash during that three-month period. Politico reports that these expenditures even include $300 she spent at the bar co-owned by her "Beetlejuice" date. The congresswoman, however, still had $1.4 million available to defend herself.
If she gets through the primary, though, Boebert will be in for a truly expensive rematch against Frisch. The Democrat raised a gigantic $3.4 million during the third quarter alone, which was more than any House candidate anywhere except then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Thanks to Boebert's notoriety, Frisch has hauled in an astonishing $8.5 million in total this year after getting largely ignored in 2020, and he ended last month with $4.3 million in the bank.
A few other contenders in both parties are also running, though they've struggled to raise money. Financial adviser Russ Andrews, a Republican who says he supports abortion up to 22 weeks into a pregnancy, took in just $30,000 but self-funded another $250,000, which left him with $260,000 to spend. On the Democratic side, Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout has struggled to connect with donors in the way Frisch has, raising only $100,000 and banking $40,000.