Photo: Former state Rep. Ron Hanks, seen speaking on the steps of the state Capitol in 2022, will challenge U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd on the Republican primary ballot. (Kevin Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)
This story by Chase Woodruff appeared on Colorado Newsline on April 13, 2026.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd will have a Republican primary challenger in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District after all, following a last-minute campaign launched by a far-right opponent at the state GOP assembly in Pueblo.
Former state Rep. Ron Hanks was the only candidate to qualify for the primary ballot through the 3rd District GOP assembly on Friday, just one day after announcing his bid, as first reported by Colorado Politics. Hurd has submitted petition signatures to qualify for the ballot, setting up a head-to-head primary contest in the Republican-leaning district, which spans most of Colorado’s Western Slope along with Pueblo and the San Luis Valley.
“CD3 voters will have your seat, Jeff,” Hanks, who did not as of Monday have an active campaign website or a statement of candidacy filed with the Federal Election Commission, wrote on social media after the assembly. “We want to drain the swamp. You are part of it.”
Hanks’ 11th-hour assembly nomination is the third major twist in the 3rd District race in as many months. In February, President Donald Trump, blasting Hurd as a “RINO” over a vote against the administration’s tariffs, endorsed his challenger, former Colorado GOP vice chair Hope Scheppelman. But he reversed himself weeks later and endorsed Hurd again, reportedly at the request of House Speaker Mike Johnson. Scheppelman suspended her campaign and was appointed to a role in the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration earlier this month.
Hurd prevailed over Hanks in a six-way GOP primary race in the 3rd District in 2024, winning 41% of the vote to Hanks’ 29%, and went on to win election to the House with a 5-percentage-point victory over Democrat Adam Frisch. The district was vacated by Rep. Lauren Boebert after she came within 546 votes of losing her reelection bid to Frisch two years earlier. Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney, had already launched a primary challenge against Boebert when she moved across the state to the more heavily Republican 4th District instead.
A Democratic dark-money group and Frisch’s campaign ran ads attacking Hurd during the 2024 primary, in what was widely considered a ploy to boost Hanks and ensure a more favorable general-election matchup. Democrats similarly meddled in the 2022 GOP Senate primary between Hanks and the party’s eventual nominee, Joe O’Dea.
Hanks, an Air Force veteran, served one term as a state legislator representing Fremont County from 2021 to 2023. During his time at the Capitol, he was a leading promoter of conspiracy theories alleging widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election, and he admitted to crossing police lines while protesting outside the U.S. Capitol during the January 6 insurrection.
Video of Friday’s 3rd District assembly shows Hurd getting booed by members of the crowd during a short speech to party delegates.
“I respect the assembly process and the role that all of you play in it. That’s why I’m here,” Hurd said. “But I made my decision to get on the ballot by petition, and I’m confident in that path.”
Colorado’s primary elections will be held on June 30. Two Democrats in the 3rd District, financial executive Alex Kelloff and former state economic development director Dwayne Romero, will also face each other in a head-to-head primary contest after they both qualified through the assembly process last month.
Colorado’s three other incumbent GOP House members will run unopposed in their June primaries.
Boebert earned the support of 81% of delegates in the 4th District assembly on Friday, while Rep. Gabe Evans secured 86% of the vote at the 8th District assembly on March 28, according to results published by the Weld County Republican Party. Rep. Jeff Crank had no opponents in last month’s 5th District assembly.
According to other results posted by candidates and local party groups, Christy Peterson will run unopposed in the GOP primary for the 1st District; Kelley Dennison and Christina Blunt both qualified for the ballot in the 2nd District; Mel Tewahade will run unopposed in the 6th District; and Tim Bennett and Amanda Capobianco will contest the primary in the 7th District. Democrats will be heavily favored in all four left-leaning districts in a favorable midterm election year for the opposition party.
Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com.
Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com.