{"id":25100,"date":"2024-10-30T02:29:03","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T08:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mailer-in-cd-3-appears-aimed-at-boosting-libertarian-candidate\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:10:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:10:05","slug":"mailer-in-cd-3-appears-aimed-at-boosting-libertarian-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/mailer-in-cd-3-appears-aimed-at-boosting-libertarian-candidate\/","title":{"rendered":"Mailer in CD-3 appears aimed at boosting Libertarian candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A copy of the Colorado Democratic Party mailer sent to voters in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Colorado Democratic Party sent voters in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District a mailer that appears aimed at persuading them to back the Libertarian candidate in the race in order to siphon support from the Republican nominee.<\/p>\n

The missive includes a picture of James Wiley and labels the Libertarian from Pueblo \u201cthe strongest Trump supporter in the race.\u201d It also includes a picture of Republican Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney, and calls him \u201ca corporate lawyer who won\u2019t take a position on immigration or Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam Frisch, the Democrat running in the 3rd District, also appears on the mailer and is labeled as an \u201cindependent small-business man.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 3rd District, which spans the Western Slope into Pueblo and southeastern Colorado, leans Republican. It\u2019s currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who is running for reelection in the 4th Congressional District on the other side of the state.<\/p>\n

Frisch, who lost to Boebert by 546 votes in 2022, is expected to be competitive in the 3rd District despite its GOP lean because of his fundraising prowess and moderate stances. Hurd is a first-time candidate with a low profile. He has refused to say if he voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020 or whether he will vote for him this year.<\/p>\n

On social media, Wiley thanked Democrats for promoting his campaign.<\/p>\n

Democrats appear to see a path to victory in persuading Republican voters who would never back a Democrat to choose a Libertarian in the 3rd District this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore Republican and unaffiliated voters in the (GOP) primary voted for other candidates than Jeff Hurd, so it\u2019s clear that voters want a different choice in that race,\u201d Shad Murib, chair of the Colorado Democratic Party, said in an interview Monday.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Democratic Party reported spending more than $250,000 this month on mailers supporting Frisch. Murib said the mailer was sent to a \u201cpretty wide range\u201d of voters, though he didn\u2019t get into specifics.<\/p>\n

Nick Bayer, a consultant working for Hurd\u2019s campaign, blasted the mailer in a written statement. He said Hurd is focusing on \u201ctalking about the issues that matter everyday to CD3 voters\u201d rather than campaign tactics.<\/p>\n

The Frisch campaign, which donated $115,000 to the party this month, denied any involvement in the mailer. But during the Republican primary in the 3rd District this year, Frisch bought TV ads aimed at persuading voters to back one of Hurd\u2019s five Republican opponents because the Frisch campaign saw them as easier to beat in November. The ads specifically boosted the profile of former state Rep. Ron Hanks, an election denier.<\/p>\n

The Frisch campaign\u2019s primary ads added to $900,000 in spending during the Republican primary by Rocky Mountain Values PAC, a Democratic group that purchased TV and radio spots, as well as mailers and newspaper ads, elevating Hank\u2019s profile in the district and attacking Hurd.<\/p>\n

Hannah Goodman, chairwoman for the Colorado Libertarian Party, chalked up the mailer to politics as usual. She doesn\u2019t think it will be effective in swinging the race to Frisch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like dumping a massive donation in his lap,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to capitalizing on what a gift and blessing that really is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Sun also obtained copies of two other mailers set out recently in the district that question Hurd\u2019s Republican bona fides, though it\u2019s unclear who\u2019s behind them.<\/p>\n

One mailer says Hurd \u201cwon\u2019t support Trump\u2019s immigration plan\u201d while another says \u201che does not agree with aggressive enforcement of our laws and even favors giving citizenship to illegals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A copy of the Colorado Democratic Party mailer sent to voters in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District.<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The mailers don\u2019t disclose the sender. The Frisch campaign and the Colorado Democratic Party denied that they sent the mail pieces.<\/p>\n

The lack of disclosure may violate federal campaign finance laws.<\/p>\n

Libertarian candidates have appeared to play spoiler before in Colorado.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the Libertarian candidate in Colorado\u2019s 8th Congressional District upended the race after winning 9,280 votes, or 4% of the total. Democrat Yadira Caraveo beat her Republican opponent, state Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, by roughly 1,600 votes \u2013 or less than a percentage point \u2013 in the district that spans the northeastern Denver suburbs along U.S. 85 into Greeley.<\/p>\n

Some Republican candidates running this year have signed a pledge created by the Colorado Libertarian Party in exchange for the Libertarian candidate in their race dropping out. Hurd declined to sign it.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Democratic campaign literature labels Libertarian James Wiley as \u2018the strongest Trump supporter in the race\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[233,266,28,826],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-25100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-election","tag-headlines","tag-political-campaigns"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25100"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78798,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25100\/revisions\/78798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25100"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=25100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}