Republican Jeff Hurd held a 3 percentage point lead over his Democratic opponent Adam Frisch late Tuesday in the election for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District.
At 10:46 p.m. with 60% of the votes tallied, Hurd was leading with 50% of the vote compared with Frisch’s 47%. The remaining votes went to third-party candidates.
“As you all know, we do not have a final result tonight,” Hurd said in a speech in Grand Junction. “And while we may wish for a quick answer, it’s important to remember that our democratic process is built on the commitment to ensuring every vote is counted.”
Frisch said the race “remains too close to call” in a news release sent at 10:17 p.m.
“I'm assuming it's going to be a very close race,” Frisch said in an interview earlier in the day with The Durango Herald. “And I'm not just saying that. I just think that is what we're hearing all the time.”
Hurd and Frisch are vying for the seat previously held by Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, who decided to seek election in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. Frisch came within 564 votes of unseating Boebert in 2022.
Hurd threw his hat in the ring as an alternative to Boebert before she switched to run in CD-4. Boebert, who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, the most far-right conservative voting bloc in Congress, said she switched districts because it was “the right decision for those who support our conservative movement.”
Hurd, a self-defined “constitutional conservative,” faced five other challengers in the primary before winning about 41% of the vote.
In the last fundraising period, Frisch raised about $2.2 million while Hurd raised just over $1 million.
“What I need to do in my campaign is address the fact that I am getting vastly outspent by an opponent that has millions of dollars that he's able to dump on my head,” Hurd said.
Throughout the campaign, Frisch attacked Hurd for taking corporate political action committee money, meaning money that comes from PACs that are registered as corporations. Hurd argued Frisch still takes money from corporations that donate to other democratic PACs.
“The No. 1 thing we hear about from people is how supportive they are that we're not taking corporate PAC money,” Frisch said.
In the Republican primary, the Colorado Republican Party endorsed fervent Donald Trump supporter Ron Hanks. The Hurd campaign has not received financial support from the state Republicans since Hurd won the primary. The Arizona GOP paid for mailers supporting Hurd.
The Colorado Democratic Party recently paid for mailers promoting third-party candidate James Wiley as the “strongest Trump supporter in the race who will close the border.” The mailer touted Hurd as a “corporate lawyer who won’t take a position on immigration or Trump.”
Hurd said he voted for Trump in the past two elections, but he declined to say who he planned to vote for in the 2024 presidential election.
Hurd criticized Frisch for meddling in the Republican primary by paying for TV ads that attacked Hurd. Frisch did so in an effort to help Hurd’s Republican rivals, believing Hurd’s rivals would be “easier to beat in November.”
Frisch attacked Hurd for not sharing how he will vote on certain ballot initiatives.
“You do know you're applying for a job where you actually vote in public, and so the people understand what you're voting for?” Frisch said during a debate. “You do realize when you go to Congress, you don't get to say, ‘I'm not going to tell people how I'm going to vote?’”
Maria Tedesco is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at mtedesco@durangoherald.com.
