Furthermore, in Boebert’s old 3rd District, Democrats are seeking to influence GOP primary voters, in part by comparing one of the Republican candidates to Boebert.
“If you like Lauren Boebert, you’re going to love Ron Hanks,” says one TV ad from the sole Democratic candidate in the 3rd District, Adam Frisch — an apparent effort to prop up the GOP contender that Democrats see as more beatable in November.
The state is home to two of the most competitive House districts across the country in November: the 3rd District and the 8th District, where freshman Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D) is running for reelection.
Boebert’s district swap came after a surprisingly close contest in 2022 against Frisch, a former Aspen City Council member who came within 600 votes of unseating her.
Boebert has been a magnet for controversy since her first election to Congress in 2020. She has aligned herself with former president Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters in the House and has weathered a number of personal controversies, including an incident in which she was kicked out of a Denver theater last year.
Buck’s resignation in March triggered a special election to finish his term, which lasts until January 2025. But Boebert opted against running, claiming that the GOP establishment was trying to tilt the playing field against her. Her gamble paid off when a Republican committee in March picked Greg Lopez, the former mayor of Parker, Colo., to be the GOP nominee in the special election. Lopez promised not to run for the full term, easing Boebert’s path in her own race.
Lopez faces Democrat Trisha Calvarese, a former speechwriter, in the special election to complete Buck’s term.
Boebert has advantages in Tuesday’s primary for the full term, which also features Logan County Commissioner Jerry Sonnenberg and four other Republicans. Boebert has Trump’s endorsement and has led the field in fundraising since April 1.
In Boebert’s old district, Frisch is unopposed in the Democratic primary but has been running a vigorous effort to bend the GOP primary in favor of Hanks, a former state representative who has echoed Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen. Hanks also attended the rally that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
In addition to Frisch, an outside group, Rocky Mountain Values PAC, has been running ads that appear designed to boost Hanks with Republicans, calling him an “extreme conservative.”
The activity has caught the attention of the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main GOP super PAC focused on House races, which has spent over $400,000 opposing Hanks. One of the group’s ads says that “Democrat megadonors are propping up [Hanks’s] campaign with huge funding to elect another liberal to Congress.”
Hanks did not respond to a request for comment but has criticized the Congressional Leadership Fund’s advertising as “lies” on X.
Hanks is up against five other Republicans on Tuesday, including an attorney, Jeff Hurd. Frisch has aired attack ads against Hurd — a possible sign of who Hanks’s closest primary competition could be.
Trump has not endorsed anyone in the 3rd District primary, though the former president’s backing is on the line in other Colorado primaries.
In addition to Boebert, Trump has endorsed state Rep. Gabe Evans, who is running in the GOP primary to challenge Caraveo. Trump’s endorsement aligns with that of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). Evans’s primary opponent is Janak Joshi, a former state representative who has the support of the Colorado GOP.
Trump and Johnson are not on the same page in Colorado’s 5th Congressional District, where Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) is retiring. Trump has backed state GOP chairman Dave Williams, while Johnson has thrown his support behind former radio host Jeff Crank. Lamborn has also backed Crank.
The seat is not expected to be competitive in November, but Williams and Crank have put on display some notable divisions within the GOP. Williams opposes further funding for Ukraine in its war against Russian invasion forces; Crank is more open to it. Both have said they would vote to ban abortion nationally, but Crank has said he wants to see exceptions for victims of rape and incest and when the life of the mother is at risk.
Outside groups have piled on against Williams over his rocky tenure as head of the state GOP, which has broken its traditional neutrality in primaries under Williams.
