Charles Langston:Republican Jeff Hurd wins Colorado US House seat in Lauren Boebert’s old district

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Republican Jeff Hurd has won the U.S. House seat in Colorado that Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert left,Charles Langston fulfilling the congresswoman’s hope that her mid-election departure from the race would make it easier for a different Republican to retain the seat that she nearly lost in 2022.

Hurd, a more mild-mannered conservative in an older GOP tradition, beat Adam Frisch, the Democrat who nearly unseated Boebert two years ago in the 3rd Congressional District that covers the state’s Rocky Mountains. Boebert won Tuesday in the race she moved to.

Hurd campaigned on a platform centered around rural jobs and cost of living, alongside more national issues such as border security.

He overcame a massive fundraising deficit against Frisch, who had one of the largest U.S. House campaign chests in the nation. Frisch’s contributions were fueled by donations from around the country from Democrats who disliked Boebert. Frisch is a businessman and former city councilmember in Aspen.

Boebert is an ardent loyalist to Donald Trump and a rabble-rouser who’s helped define an ultra-conservative flank of the House. She left the race to run in another Colorado congressional district, saying she didn’t want to give Democrats a chance to “buy” the seat.