OCT 10, 2024 | NEWS | By Lorelei Smillie
After four years of Rep. Lauren Boebert’s polarizing leadership, two candidates vying to replace her found surprising common ground on water rights and healthcare during Monday, Oct. 7’s debate at Pueblo Community College.
Adam Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman, and Jeff Hurd, an appellate lawyer native to the Colorado Western Slope, will compete on the ballot this fall to represent the 3rd District of Colorado in Congress.
Frisch is running as a Democrat and Hurd as a Republican, but their visions for the district are similar. During the debate, they agreed on issues like lifting the debt ceiling, lowering the cost of living and not letting bigger and richer cities like Denver overshadow the needs of Colorado District 3 in Congress.
CensusReporter states that Colorado’s 3rd District is the largest in the state, beginning at the northern border and encompassing all of the Western Slope and part of southern Colorado. Its largest city, Pueblo, contains about 20% of the district’s population.
As of 2022, 30.9% of the district’s registered voters are Republican, 23.7% are Democrats, and 43.6% are unaffiliated, according to published data by the Colorado Independent Redistricting Committee.
Both candidates tried to emphasize their similarities to the people in Pueblo. Despite coming from professional backgrounds, Frisch and Hurd highlighted their extensive time spent in Pueblo and connecting with the entire district.
“My run for Congress has never been about team Republican or team Democrat. It’s been about team Pueblo, team Colorado, and team CD3. Neither party has a monopoly on good ideas, and both have some pretty bad ones,” said Frisch during his opening remarks.
According to Ernest Luning, senior Colorado Politics reporter and debate moderator, Frisch has avoided partisan labels to distance himself from the Democratic Party. During the debate, Frisch repeatedly condemned both parties on multiple policy points.
Luning defined Hurd as “a Reagan-era Republican” who is trying to get away from the “angertainment” strategies of Lauren Boebert and the MAGA movement.
These respective strategies led the candidates to find a significant amount of common ground on Monday night.
Questions on water rights policy got significant airtime. In the 3rd district, the Colorado River is the main water source for agriculture and personal use. The river exports water to six different states. Colorado does not receive water outside its state boundaries, so the resource is precious.
“Water is our lifeblood. We must protect it. My view is we grow crops here in Pueblo County… not houses in Aurora, period,” Hurd said.
Frisch agreed, naming water as the “lifeblood for ranching, farming and biodiversity” in Colorado.
When asked about healthcare legislation, both candidates cited personal family history as motivation to provide broader healthcare coverage in the state. Hurd’s father used to run the Marillac Health clinic in Grand Junction, and Frisch’s father worked as an OBGYN for many years.
Both candidates want to focus on rural healthcare and improving insurance options for rural communities.
A significant disagreement arose when the two candidates were asked about the cost of living in the state.
Frisch asserted he was “the only person up here who doesn’t take corporate PAC money.”
“Adam takes corporate money. He does this little dance where he talks about ‘I don’t take corporate PAC money.’ But he takes money from liberal PACs that are funneling money through corporations,” said Hurd. “It’s sort of like saying … he doesn’t eat from Taco Bell because he gets his food from a food delivery service… just because he gets his food from Uber Eats doesn’t mean what’s in the bag isn’t the same.”
Campaign finance has been a point of contention between the two candidates, who have tried to seem relatable to a district predominantly of blue-collar workers.
On abortion, the two candidates cordially disagreed. Frisch said he would support the federal protections under Roe v. Wade. Hurd said that he would not vote in favor of a federal abortion ban, but that he was pro-life with exceptions and that this right should be left up to the states to decide.
Frisch and Hurd both showed a strong desire to work with the opposing party to create real change. After the debate, an audience member mentioned that their willingness to compromise came “as a real breath of fresh air” for voters in the 3rd congressional district of Colorado