Several prominent Colorado Republicans are supporting an opponent of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert as she prepares to run for re-election next year, according to campaign finance records made public this week.  

Republican Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction lawyer, will run against Boebert in the June 2024 primary. He raised $412,000 between his campaign launch in August and the end of the reporting period Sept. 30, while Boebert raised $854,000 from July to the end of September.  

One of Hurd’s Republican financial supporters is Mesa County Commissioner Cody Davis — who once supported Boebert. Other supporters include former Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers, former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown, former Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney Jason Dunn, former University of Colorado President Bruce Benson, former U.S. House Rep. Tim Foster and Chris Murray, who served as a longtime attorney for the state Republican party.

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Boebert, a Donald Trump-backed firebrand who has generated national headlines throughout her time in office, made headlines again last month when she was ejected from a Denver theater during a performance of “Beetlejuice” for talking loudly and vaping. She initially denied the disruptive behavior but later apologized after the surveillance video confirmed she had done so. 

“This was just the straw that I think broke the camel’s back for a lot of people,” said Dunn when he was reached by phone Tuesday.

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Dunn added that he recently invited a group of Republicans to attend a fundraiser for Hurd and had a 100% success rate.

“I’ve never had that happen,” he said.  

Others who donated to Hurd include Fred Yarger, Colorado’s former solicitor general under Attorney General Cynthia Coffman; as well as Daniel Ritchie, a chancellor emeritus of the University of Denver; and Cody Kennedy, who serves on the Grand Junction City Council. 

But while Hurd seems to be pulling in flashy names with big donations, Boebert is touting her “grassroots-led campaign,” pointing out she’s seeing more small-dollar donations. Nearly 60% of her donations this quarter were less than $200. Only 3% of Hurd’s donations were in that category. 

“That is definitely part of the plan — expanding that percentage of small-dollar donors as time goes on,” he said. “The strong start that I’ve gotten from the donations I received so far will be used to build and grow on the small-dollar donators who are critical to the success of this campaign.” 

While his relatively successful fundraising could indicate he will be a strong contender, he will still have a lot to overcome to have a chance at defeating Boebert. The congresswoman, who has previously been endorsed by Trump, will have the benefit of both name recognition and running the same year as the former president.

Polling from one of her Democratic challengers, former Aspen City Council member Adam Frisch, showed the district’s voters would prefer Trump in next year’s presidential race. Trump polled 5 percentage points ahead of President Joe Biden in the survey, 49% to 44%. 

“It’s a tough primary to beat her,” Suthers said.

He added that he believes if Boebert is the candidate, Republicans will lose the seat, which is a key district in the national fight for control of Congress.

Hurd had spent about $57,000 so far and had $356,000 in cash at the end of the reporting period.

Boebert had spent $1.8 million, with $1.4 million in cash at the end of the quarter.  

Russ Andrews, another Republican challenger, raised about $38,000 during the reporting period and loaned his campaign about $251,000. He spent $41,000 during the past quarter.

Democratic challenger

Frisch, the Democratic challenger who lost to Boebert in 2022 by only 546 votes, raised about four times more than Boebert during the most recent reporting period, with a whopping $3.4 million. About 65% of his donations came from donors who gave less than $200. 

The polling released by him, which was conducted in August, showed a statistical tie in a hypothetical rematch between himself and Boebert in 2024. 

So far this year, he has spent $3.8 million.  

Frisch has the third-highest fundraising receipts in the country for House candidates, according to the Federal Election Commission. He had $4.3 million in cash on hand at the end of the quarter. 

He will also face a primary challenger with Grand Junction Mayor Anna Stout announcing her candidacy for the position in July. 

She has raised about $101,000 and spent $60,000.  

All the other candidates in the race have raised less than $100,000.  

Elliott Wenzler is the Western Slope politics reporter for the Craig Press and its sister publications in Glenwood Springs, Vail, Steamboat Springs, Craig, Summit County and Grand County. Reach her at ewenzler@swiftcom.com.