The enormity of his new job hit Congressman-elect Jeff Hurd while sitting in Statuary Hall for dinner on his first night of freshman orientation last month.
“Someone pointed out that Abraham Lincoln's desk used to be sitting about five feet from where I was sitting, and it was beautiful and overwhelming,” Hurd recalled. “It made me want to work really hard to do a good job and serve the people that sent me to D.C.”
For Rep.-elect Gabe Evans, reality started to set in when he walked into the Capitol and realized it would be his workspace for the next two years. “I still can’t wrap my mind around that. It’s still absolutely surreal to me.”
It was also surreal for Rep.-elect Jeff Crank, who used to work in the complex as a staffer. He spent some downtime recently sitting in the Capitol Rotunda answering emails and watching the visitors in awe of their surroundings, much like he was.
“It's just an honor. I always felt that walking into the Capitol when I was staff,” Crank said.” I never tried to take a day for granted when I was there. And so for me, it was just a very special moment and quite an honor to have the citizens, my neighbors, send me back to represent them.”
These three men, all Republicans, are the state’s newest congress members: Hurd for the 3rd Congressional District, Crank for the 5th Congressional District and Evans for the 8th Congressional District.
Their elections also mark an almost complete turnover of the state’s Congressional delegation over the course of the last eight years; only Rep. Diana DeGette of Denver has been in the House longer than that. And while the Colorado delegation may now lack long-standing experience, the newest members have high hopes of making an impact for their districts.
Priorities that range from the national to the local
Hurd is optimistic that the next U.S. House of Representatives will function better than the current one, which has been historically unproductive and dysfunctional, including two protracted fights over who would lead the chamber.
“I think that there's a real opportunity here, with unified government from the presidency and the Senate and in the House, to really get things done. We made a number of commitments as Republicans to the voters and now we need to deliver on it,” Hurd explained.
Topping the list of promises for all three is increasing border security, although how that will play out in Congress and what it might ultimately look like — whether it will include mass deportations or extending the wall all along the U.S. southern border — remains to be seen.
Hurd’s other priorities, however, have a more district-focused tinge.
“Unleashing our energy economy. That's something that's a critical issue, not only for our country but also for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District,” he told CPR News.
That could mean reevaluating public lands protections President Joe Biden put in place, such as a 20-year moratorium on mineral extraction on more than 200,000 acres in the Thompson Divide, which falls within his district. Biden made the announcement in October 2022, but the rule was finalized earlier this year.
“I think there's a way to balance environmental stewardship with responsible energy development, and I think we need to take a look and see whether or not…what [Biden’s] done makes sense. I'm not sure that it does,” he said.
Hurd said he also wants to protect Colorado water, something that’s been a priority for all Colorado politicians
Hurd’s angling for a spot on the competitive Energy and Commerce committee. He’s hopeful that his background as an energy lawyer will help convince Republican Steering committee members to place him there.
For Evans, priorities and policies will both loom large
Evans, whose seat includes farms, ranches and gas fields along the northern Front Range, is also making a pitch for the Energy and Commerce Committee, as well as the Agriculture Committee. “I think those are going to be the places where I can best serve this district.”
The 8th District is Colorado’s only swing seat; Evans defeated incumbent Democrat Yadira Caraveo by just 2,449 votes. Republican leaders could help his chances of holding the seat by putting him on committees that will really help him deliver wins for his voters.
When it comes to how he’s tackling the job, Evans said he will use a three-step formula.
“My faith guides me. I follow the Constitution, based on 22 years of daily trying to uphold and defend it in the military and law enforcement and the experience that I gained in those. And then I represent the district, I represent the constituents in the district,” he told CPR News.
Evans joins Congress after a two-year stint in the Colorado State House. He thinks that experience will help him, not only hit the ground running but work across the aisle.
While border security may top his priority list, the former police officer said he will also focus on public safety, something that is mainly the purview of local governments. And he sees the two issues as linked.
“When the federal government doesn't secure our border, and when the federal government turns a blind eye to cities and states that are adopting sanctuary-style policies, that creates a problem that the local law enforcement folks are left holding the bag.”
Rounding out Evans’ top policy priorities is the cost of living; he noted, “Now it's the time to put campaign mode aside and to be able to focus on the policies that are going to make everybody's life better.”
But he may not find it easy to turn off campaign mode.
Evans won his seat by the slimmest margin of anyone in the Colorado delegation and he’s likely to be a top target for Democrats who hope to flip it back to their column in 2026. His race was one of the costliest House contests in the nation this year, so Evans, who was outraised by Caraveo, will likely have to spend a good chunk of his first term focused on fundraising if he hopes to hold the seat.
Crank wants to cut spending
Crank doesn’t have to worry about reelection just yet. His El Paso County district has never elected a Democrat to Congress and he won with a comfortable 14 percent of the vote.
Like most Republican lawmakers, he thinks border security is the top issue, but also way up there for him is getting control of government spending and reducing the federal deficit.
He’s also supportive of renewing the Trump tax cuts that expire next year, and it could be hard to square those two priorities.
“I certainly think that whatever we do on taxes, we have to make sure that we're also watching spending. And I do think that's going to be some difficult discussions,” he told CPR News.
Crank is hopeful that as the House Republican conference tackles difficult issues it can remain unified, especially the GOP freshman class.
“There was nobody there who seemed to want to come to Congress to be famous. They all wanted to come and work as part of the team,” he said. “From what I saw, everybody believed that President Trump was given a mandate on Election Day and that we are there to help push forward and advance that mandate.”
But Crank may also find himself at odds with Trump, especially if the incoming president tries to return to his original decision to move the Space Command headquarters out of Colorado Springs to Alabama.
The 5th District has five military installations in it, and Crank is hoping to land a seat on the House Armed Services Committee to represent those interests, including advocating to keep Space Command where it is. But even if he does land that assignment, the committee is chaired by Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, who is a strong advocate of moving the command to his home state.
“I'm going to work in a bipartisan way with members of our delegation (and) with people in the administration to really show what I think is true, which is it just makes better sense from an operational standpoint and from a taxpayer standpoint to be in Colorado,” Crank explained.
While Colorado's new members have their own priorities, much of what will happen in the 119th Congress will be decided by Trump and Republican leadership. And they’ll face some tough issues from the start, including raising the debt limit and passing government spending.
Depending on how ambitious or disruptive the new president and congressional leaders truly are, it could make for a bumpy start for all.
- After winning a narrow victory, Gabe Evans talks about how he plans to represent Colorado’s 8th District in Congress.
- Democrat Adam Frisch concedes to Republican Jeff Hurd in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District
- Colorado District 5 candidate, Republican Jeff Crank on military spending, immigration, and why he believes he should go to Washington, DC
