Capitol’s new crop: Jeff Hurd, Colorado’s ‘accidental politician,’ who is taking over Boebert’s old House seat – Washington Examiner

Rep-elect Jeff Hurd (R-CO), the incoming freshman for Colorado’s 3rd congressional District, admits his representation style might be a “little bit different” from that of his predecessor, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO).

Hurd, 45, had never run for elected office prior to his 2024 congressional campaign, saying during an interview with the Washington Examiner that his foray into politics was much that of an “accidental politician.”

For Hurd and his wife, Barbora Hurd, who have five children, the idea of running for an elected position “wasn’t anything that we had been aiming for,” with the incoming freshman saying he often jokes that “if you’re looking for somebody that has good judgment, don’t look at the person running for Congress, because it’s a crazy and hectic life, and it would involve a number of sacrifices.”

“But ultimately, where my wife landed, and where I landed, is this would be a tremendous honor to serve. It’s where I was raised, and we’re raising our children,” Hurd told the Washington Examiner. “We thought voters deserve a choice in both the primary and in the general election, and I felt called to give them that choice and to serve the district that I call home.”

CAPITOL’S NEW CROP: THE FOUR HOUSE REPUBLICANS POISED TO BECOME MAGA CHAMPIONS

An attorney at Denver-based law firm Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, Hurd launched his congressional against Boebert in August 2023, saying in his campaign announcement that the district needed someone who is “committed to consensus-building and has a proven track record of being part of the solution, not creating more problems.”

Boebert often made headlines during her tenure as the district’s representative, with her heckling of President Joe Biden during his 2022 State of the Union address and her public divorce drawing national attention. In September 2023, she was kicked out of a performance of the musical Beetlejuice for vaping and groping while on a date in a theater in Denver.

Shortly after, Hurd’s campaign told the Washington Examiner in a statement that the “reason Jeff got in this race was because voters all over the district and Colorado are fed up with Rep. Boebert, specifically her inability to deliver results for our district, and her disgraceful behavior as an elected official.”

“Since her disappointing antics in September, Republicans all over the district have expressed concern that our chances of keeping the seat with her as our nominee are slim,” his campaign continued. “We are proud to have the support of many local and state conservative leaders who know Jeff will be a leader of character and deliver results for the district.”

The Washington Examiner asked Boebert’s office for comment. 

Hurd ended up avoiding a primary fight against Boebert, who left the district to run for former Rep. Ken Buck’s open seat in the state’s 4th District after headwinds mounted against her. Hurd won the party’s nomination over former state Rep. Ron Hanks and four other Republicans.

Colorado’s 3rd district was an important win for Republicans as they sought to hold on to their House majority in the 2024 elections, with the district shifting from a “toss-up” to “lean-Republican” when Boebert announced her plans to leave the district. 

Hurd went on to beat Frisch by 19,804 votes, or 5 percentage points, in the general election. The margin of victory was notably wider than Boebert’s 2022 reelection, where she defeated Frisch by a razor-thin margin of 546 votes.

Heading into the 119th Congress, Hurd has taken a softer tone toward Boebert, saying he believes the two will agree on the “vast majority of the issues,” particularly when it comes to representing rural Colorado.

“Her new district is a rural district; her old district, my new district, is also a rural district. And so think when it comes to the issues and the things that matter especially the border, inflation, government spending, energy — I think you’ll find that I am a conservative Republican legislator as well,” Hurd said. “My style might be a little bit different, but when it comes to substance, I think there’s a lot more alignment than it might appear, at least on the surface, and I guess we’ll have to see how that plays out in the next Congress.”

Hurd and Boebert have been in “constant communication” as the pair work to transition their offices from one to the next, according to a press release sent out on Nov. 14.

“I look forward to working with Congressman-elect Hurd on renewing America’s energy independence, improving the storage and management of water in Colorado, and securing our southern border to protect Colorado families from dangerous criminals and fentanyl,” Boebert said in the release.

Hurd previously told the Washington Examiner that he feels “it’s important that we have a close relationship, primarily because we’re going to be serving as colleagues, hopefully for many years together, but then also just transitioning the casework.”

Still, Hurd said he ran his campaign “consciously and deliberately” focused on the issues affecting his district, working to ensure his bid didn’t “get swept up in too much of the national discussion.”

“I felt like we were getting too tied up in the national sort of political discussion, and it was coming at the cost of families and small businesses and communities in my district,” said Hurd, who is also a former board chairman of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce.

Unlike many of his Republican peers, including Boebert, Hurd never received an endorsement for his congressional bid from President-elect Donald Trump. 

The Colorado Republican told the Washington Examiner that the endorsement “just didn’t happen” and that the endorsements his campaign received were “primarily folks that were in the district and that we felt would validate our message of helping secure the border and grow our energy economy and protect water and agriculture.”

Hurd went on to say that he is looking forward to working with Trump and helping advance his second-term agenda alongside congressional Republicans.

“I think he got a mandate in this last election,” Hurd said. “I look forward to working with him and the Republican Senate and a Republican Congress in delivering on those promises to the American people, and I think we’re going to be evaluated on how effectively we can deliver in the next two years.”

CAPITOL’S NEW CROP: TIM SHEEHY FORMS UNLIKELY BIPARTISAN TRIO AS HE CEMENTS RIGHTWARD SHIFT IN SENATE

A commercial and regulatory attorney, Hurd’s campaign website touts a 2018 legal brief he co-authored supporting Amendment 71, which requires any individual or group attempting to amend the state’s constitution to gather support from every region in Colorado.

However, Hurd was attacked by Frisch during their congressional race for his legal background. The Colorado Democrat ran an ad that labeled Hurd a “corporate wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Frisch also asked Hurd if he planned to release his list of clients to be transparent to voters about any conflicts of interest during their September debate.

“It’s a little ironic that a Manhattan currency trader is talking about Wall Street,” Hurd said at the time.

For his part, Hurd is hopeful his experience as an attorney will benefit his district during his term. 

“I am going to work hard to be thoroughly prepared to understand the facts, to understand the law and how the facts fit with the law. And I think that’s one of my strengths, is not only that work ethic, but an approach to legislation, regulation, and public policy,” said Hurd.

Hurd continued, “My legal background, I think, will benefit me as a legislator in Congress, and I was sometimes criticized for being a lawyer when I was running, but I think it gives me a set of skills that I can deliver results for my district.”

CAPITOL’S NEW CROP: THE FRESH FACES OF THE HOUSE WHO ARE READY TO ‘ROLL UP’ THEIR SLEEVES IN THE 119TH CONGRESS

As he prepares to enter the 119th Congress, Hurd said he will be keeping in mind the people in his district who are “struggling” due to “bad democratic policies.”

Hurd explained that a tour he did of a coal-fired power plant in Craig, Colorado (that is slated to shut down) where he met with some of the operators who were around his age and also had children, with one returning late from a parent-teacher conference, was the “moment” he knew he “wanted to run and wanted to fight for them.”

“Those are the people that I’m going to be keeping in mind, are the people, the coal miners, and the power plant operators in Norfolk County, Colorado, and their families that are struggling in the third Congressional District because of bad democratic policies,” Hurd said.