For the past four years, Colorado’s largest congressional district has been represented in Congress by the outsized personality of Republican Lauren Boebert. The third district congresswoman has courted controversy ever since arriving in Washington, grabbing headlines with everything from heckling President Joe Biden during the State of the Union address to her at-times messy personal life, including a bitter divorce and getting kicked out of the musical Beetlejuice in Denver.
But with Boebert moving to run in a different district on the other side of the state, the region’s voters are looking ahead to a contrasting style of representation.
“It would've been nice if those things hadn't happened, but I can't judge her for that,” said Paula Bush, a Republican voter from the Garfield County town of New Castle. Bush liked Boebert as a Representative and is disappointed she won’t be able to vote for her again.
“I have to look at her voting record, what she's done for me, and the communities on the Western slope,” said Bush. “Her personal stuff, that’s too bad, but that’s life.”
Waller was attending the Burning Mountain Festival in New Castle, where, along with pie eating, tug-o-war and log-splitting, the competitive nature of Western Slope politics was on full display.
Boebert only barely won re-election two years ago, holding on to her seat by 546 votes, the closest congressional race in the nation in 2022. The Third District spans western and southern Colorado, including a diverse range of communities, from Pueblo and Grand Junction to Aspen and Alamosa. On paper, Republicans should have around a 9-point advantage. This time around, Boebert’s trying her luck in the Fourth District, a much redder seat that includes the Eastern Plains and Douglas County.
A ballot without Boebert
At least some local Republican candidates in CD3 are relieved not to be sharing a ballot with her. Caleb Waller of Silt is running for office for the first time, challenging a Democratic incumbent for a state House seat. Like Bush, he appreciates Boebert’s political positions, but he’ll be happy to see someone else in the office.
“She had a 98 percent constitutional voting record. But her lack of professionalism has caused massive problems in this district,” said Waller.
Waller said he’s proud to back this year’s Republican congressional nominee, Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd, calling him a breath of fresh air.
“Jeff Hurd is a family man. We're not going to be in the news every day because of Jeff Hurd. I love Jeff Hurd,” he said. “He’s serious and going to get things done.”
Both Hurd and his Democratic opponent Adam Frisch, who nearly unseated Boebert last time, are running on a message of changing the tone.
“One of the reasons I got into this race was because I felt like we were focused too much on national issues and not enough on local issues,” Hurd told CPR’s Colorado Matters during a recent interview.
With Boebert out of the race, political watchers view this Republican-leaning seat as competitive, but no longer a real tossup. However, it’s still a must-win for both local and national Republicans. At the national level, holding the seat increases the party’s chances of retaining control of the closely divided House. And for the state party, the goal is to hold ground after years of losses in increasingly blue Colorado.
Boebert’s departure also changes the landscape for Frisch, a businessman from Aspen who has run on a moderate stance of bringing people together. He posted huge fundraising numbers last year, as Democratic donors leapt at the idea of potentially unseating such a prominent member of the right. The giving has slowed since Boebert left the race, but he still has nearly $4 million left in his war chest, compared to only $156,000 for Hurd.
“She was such a national firebrand. It attracted a lot of people from all different political persuasions to get involved in the race,” Frisch told CPR News on the campaign trail. “And so it's a different race (now).”
But it’s still a race Frisch insists he still feels confident of winning.
Democratic voter Willow Brotzman says the party is feeling energized with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket and that Frisch continues to be a strong candidate and campaigner, even without Boebert to run against.
“It definitely changes it, I think, because you have a more moderate candidate that he's going up against, but I think he can still pull it off,” she said.
Unaffiliated Garfield County voter Nicholas Krick was always amused by how worked-up people in the area got over Boebert.
“Good or bad, people like drama,” he noted, “and that's why I think she's popular.”
Krick didn’t vote for Boebert last election and doesn’t care that she’s not running again here, but also he’s not backing either Frisch or Hurd. He said he’s so jaded by national politics he may sit out this congressional race for the election entirely.
“The scene is just set for chaos right now and I think the people are going to lose either way,” he reflected. “It's kind of scary because you have such a divide right now where it doesn't matter who wins, the other side is going to be unhappy and blame the process.”
Krick isn’t all the way out of politics though; he’s just focused even further down the ballot. For the festival, he came sporting a T-shirt for one of the local Republican county commission hopefuls.
