Jeff Hurd and Adam Frisch are racing in Colorado’s 3rd District, too close to call

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BIG CONNECTION — The race between Democrat Adam Frisch and Republican Jeff Hurd in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District was too close Tuesday night, leaving open the possibility that the Washington, D.C., district could be represented by a Democrat for the first time in more than a decade.

Hurd led Frisch by about 8,800 votes — or 3 percentage points — at 10:30 p.m. Most counties would stop counting ballots shortly afterward.

The Associated Press estimated as of 10:30 p.m. that about 75% of votes cast in the precinct had been counted.

“We knew all along that this race, like last time, was going to be razor thin,” Frisch said in a written statement. “The race remains too close to call at the moment.”

Making up a deficit of 8,800 votes will be difficult for Frisch. The district leans in favor of the Republican Party in terms of voter registration and past election results.

But Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney, is a new candidate who hasn’t made much of a name for himself after launching his campaign in August 2023.

Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman, has been campaigning for the seat for nearly three years. He ran in the district against Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in 2022 and lost by 546 votes, but raised millions of dollars thanks to her unpopularity. (Boebert switched to the 4th Congressional District to seek re-election this year – and won on Tuesday. Hurd entered the race before her move.)

This election cycle, Frisch used his Mount Sopris-sized campaign chest to dominate the airwaves heading into Election Day. Hurd raised a fraction of the money Frisch brought in.

If Frisch ultimately climbs the steep hill to win, he would be the first Democrat to represent the 3rd District, which stretches from the Western Slope to Pueblo and southeastern Colorado, since early 2011 — and his victory could boost Democrats’ chances to retake the US House. . The last Democrat to represent the district was U.S. Rep. John Salazar. who was deposed in 2010.

If Hurd loses, it will be much more difficult for Republicans to maintain their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Hurd and Frisch share many of the same policy views. The main difference between the candidates is their position on abortionwith Frisch opposing any government restrictions on the procedure and Hurd saying there should be some restrictions, but not imposed by the federal government.

The Democrats tried to increase Frisch’s chances by sending a mailer to voters in the 3rd District, which appeared intended to convince them to support the Libertarian candidate in the race in order to siphon support from Hurd. The postal piece from the Colorado Democratic Party included a photo of James Wiley and labeled the Pueblo libertarian “the strongest Trump supporter in the race.” It also included a photo of Hurd and called him “a corporate lawyer who won’t take a position on immigration or Trump.”

Wiley had 2% of the vote at 10:30 p.m

Super PACs spent $1.1 million supporting Hurd and $627,000 supporting Frisch.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a Republican super PAC tied to House Speaker Mike Johnson, poured more than $300,000 into the race to help Hurd in the final weeks of the campaign. It was a sign that the race was heating up. American for Prosperity Action spent nearly $740,000 on the general election after helping Hurd win a six-way Republican primary in June.

Meanwhile, Project 218 PAC, a Democratic group funded by a list of wealthy donorsspent more than $450,000 to help Frisch leading up to Election Day, much of it on TV advertising.

In Grand Junction, at Hurd’s watch party, red, white and blue cupcakes were on display. His children were there, decked out in party dresses and small suits. He promised to be “serious, hardworking, prepared and accessible to the media.”

“I’m trying to say I want to make local headlines, not national headlines,” he said of how he would operate differently than Boebert.

This is a developing story that will be updated.

Colorado Sun correspondent Sandra Fish contributed to this report.

Type of story: News

Based on facts, either directly observed and verified by the reporter, or reported and verified from expert sources.