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By Katherine Fung
Senior Writer
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Several former Lauren Boebert donors are backing a different Republican in the 2024 primary race for Colorado's 3rd congressional district, suggesting that the congresswoman's re-election bid may be even more of an uphill battle than some politicos expect.
A Newsweek analysis of campaign contributions shows that at least 10 former Boebert donors, who funneled nearly $13,000 into her 2020 campaign, have instead donated their money to Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd this cycle. While the number of donors leaving Boebert's campaign is small in comparison to the roughly 66,000 small-dollar contributions that she received last quarter, those 10 donors alone have poured $17,800 into Hurd's campaign since he announced he'd run against the popular incumbent in August.
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"Congresswoman Boebert is continuing to expand her base of grassroots donors across the 3rd District and nationally while putting up a top-10 Q3 performance for battleground district Republicans across the country," Boebert's campaign manager Drew Sexton told Newsweek. "We look forward to uniting the entire Republican Party after winning the primary in June."
Boebert is expected to face a tough re-election campaign next year. Her Democratic rival Adam Frisch, who shocked pundits when his narrow loss to Boebert triggered an automatic recount in the midterms, is running to unseat the conservative firebrand for a second time, hopeful that he has the tools to change the outcome of the 2024 race. But even if Boebert doesn't have to worry about Frisch until the general election, the primary race could pose another threat to the congresswoman's campaign.
Frisch has already outraised Boebert by a factor of four in the last quarter, bringing in nearly $34 million between July through September. While Hurd is still hundreds of thousands behind Boebert's $854,000, the Republican challenger was able to raise almost half of what the incumbent congresswoman could in about half the amount of time.
Fundraising data shows that Hurd brought in $412,000 in the quarter, but the attorney only announced his campaign in mid-August, losing six weeks of potential fundraising in that time period. A spokesperson from Hurd's campaign told Newsweek he expects to be able to financially compete against Boebert going forward.
"As someone who is not a politician and got into this race with half the quarter over we are proud to have raised about $412k," Hurd's campaign said. "We are thankful of the support of many voters here in CO-3, and look forward to continuing to talk about the issues that matter to our district- combating inflation, protecting our water, supporting our AG community, and energy independence."
The campaign noted that most of his campaign contributions have come from solid conservative Republicans who want to throw their support behind a GOP alternative to Boebert, rather than from liberal voters in the district who want to primary the congresswoman.
Hurd, who has never held elected office, announced he was running on August 16, saying the district "needs a representative in Washington, DC, who is committed to consensus-building and has a proven track record of being part of the solution, not creating more problems. I'm ready to provide serious leadership for rural Colorado."
The former board chair of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce has already earned the support of some big GOP names like former Senator Hank Brown and former Colorado House of Representatives Majority Leader Tim Foster, who are co-chairing his campaign. Hurd is also backed by former University of Colorado President Bruce Benson, former Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and former University of Denver Chancellor Daniel Ritchie. Nonetheless, it will still be difficult for any non-Boebert Republican to win the nomination from the congresswoman.
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