Colorado GOP 2024 primary: 6-way race to replace Lauren Boebert in House District 3

Voters around Colorado are coming out to the polls Tuesday to weigh in on the primary elections, which includes candidates for Congress and the state legislature.

Pueblo Democrats didn’t have any contested races for local seats, but Republican contests for their Congressional as well as a local state House seat are underway.

Here’s what to know about who is running. Check back on this page later for updates on what’s happening.

Who is running in the CO-3 Republican primary?

Six candidates are vying to be the Republican candidate in the race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes Pueblo, the San Luis Valley and most of the Western Slope.

Puebloan Stephen Varela emerged as top candidate at the CO-4 assembly in April. Ron Hanks, who wasn’t far behind Varela at the assembly, won the controversial endorsement of the state GOP. Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd has raised the most among all of the GOP candidates, with over $1 million of contributions reported.

Also in the running are Russ Andrews, a financial advisor from Carbondale; Curtis McCrackin, a businessman from Delta and Lew Webb, a businessman from the Durango area.

The incumbent in CO-3, Republican Lauren Boebert, decided to move to another, more conservative congressional district late last year. Boebert was the top-place candidate at the CO-4 assembly in April.

The winner will face Democrat Adam Frisch in November. Frisch has been the only Democrat running in their primary for months and has raised about $13.2 millions since officially announcing his candidacy over a year ago.

Frisch was 546 votes shy of defeating Boebert in November 2022, a result that surprised many in a district considered relatively safe for Republicans.

Who is in the HD-46 Republican primary?

Christina Mascarenas and Kim Swearingen are the two Republicans facing each other in the primary

The winner will face incumbent Democrat Tisha Mauro in November, who was unchallenged in her party’s primary.

Mauro has been the representative for HD-46 for two legislative sessions. The district includes most of the city of Pueblo with the exception of Bessemer and the East Side, parts of the St. Charles Mesa community and the southwestern quadrant of Pueblo County.

No local Democratic races are contested

The only contest with multiple candidates on local Democratic primary ballots is between two candidates running for University of Colorado regent at-large: all of the other races have just one candidate.

Daneya Esgar is running for her first four-year term as a Pueblo County Commissioner after being appointed to the seat by a group of local Democrats last year. Miles Lucero is challenging incumbent (and former Democrat) Epimenio “Eppie” Griego for the other seat on the BOCC that will go to voters this fall.

Pueblo’s two Democratic incumbent representatives in the state House, Tisha Mauro and Matt Martinez, are running unopposed.

Frisch is running alone in this primary in CO-3, as are the Democratic candidates for the state board of education and University of Colorado regent in this district.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.