{"id":27076,"date":"2024-06-19T03:18:27","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T09:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/democrat-adam-frisch-is-running-tv-ads-in-3rd-congressional-district-gop-primary\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:51:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:51:10","slug":"democrat-adam-frisch-is-running-tv-ads-in-3rd-congressional-district-gop-primary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/democrat-adam-frisch-is-running-tv-ads-in-3rd-congressional-district-gop-primary\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrat Adam Frisch is running TV ads in 3rd Congressional District GOP primary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=a9196fc9-5ecf-5aec-b51d-1936313dd164&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1200\" height=\"649\" alt=\"Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd (left), a Republican, and former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch (right), a Democrat. Frisch is running ads in the Republican primary in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District attacking Hurd in an apparent attempt to help one of his opponents win.\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd (left), a Republican, and former Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch (right), a Democrat. Frisch is running ads in the Republican primary in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District attacking Hurd in an apparent attempt to help one of his opponents win.<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Democrat Adam Frisch is spending at least $100,000 to air a TV ad in the Republican primary in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District in an apparent attempt to shape the race and give himself a better chance to win in November.<\/p>\n<p>The ad attacks Grand Junction attorney Jeff Hurd for \u201cducking Republican debates\u201d and for refusing to say who he voted for in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, as well as for being the beneficiary of corporate super PAC money.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a clear call to GOP primary voters in the Republican-leaning 3rd District to back a different candidate in the six-way race \u2013 someone Frisch believes will be easier to beat in November. Someone like former state Rep. Ron Hanks, an election denier who attended Donald Trump\u2019s rally on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C., that preceded the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X9wLsbKnPG0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cAs far as I\u2019m concerned, the general election has started,\u201d Adam Frisch\u2019s campaign manager Camilo Vilaseca said in a written statement to The Colorado Sun on Tuesday that highlighted how Hanks has been endorsed by the Colorado GOP and reiterated the attacks on Hurd that are in the TV ad.<\/p>\n<p>The strategy is risky.<\/p>\n<p>The 3rd District is so favorable to Republicans that it could backfire for Democrats and result in Hanks being elected to Congress as he is seen as Hurd\u2019s top opponent.<\/p>\n<p>Frisch lost to Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert by 546 votes in the 3rd District in 2022. But without Boebert in the race this time around \u2013 she moved to the 4th Congressional District based on the other side of the state to improve her reelection chances \u2013 it\u2019s not clear the former Aspen city councilman can win.<\/p>\n<p>Voters in the 3rd District haven\u2019t sent a Democrat to Congress since 2008, and the district\u2019s boundaries have been redrawn twice since then to make it more favorable to Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>But Frisch has a major war chest \u2013 $3.8 million as of June 5, money he raised from across the country by appealing to Democratic hatred of Boebert \u2013 and it may be a better investment to shape the Republican primary now than to have to battle a formidable candidate like Hurd in November.<\/p>\n<p>The Frisch ads run through primary Election Day on June 25.<\/p>\n<p>The Hurd campaign blasted Frisch\u2019s tactics Tuesday in a written statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA shock to no one, Adam and the Democrats are attacking Jeff because they know he is the only Republican who can beat Frisch and keep the seat red,\u201d the Hurd campaign statement said. \u201cVoters in western and southern Colorado won\u2019t be duped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Frisch ad also comes as the Democratic super PAC Rocky Mountain Values has already spent about $400,000 on TV and radio spots, as well as mailers and newspaper ads, elevating Hank\u2019s profile in the district and attacking Hurd. The Rocky Mountain Values PAC ads, which were first reported by The Sun, have been on the air since the beginning of the month.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=30ec4ee6-c04d-539a-8b1d-29317f2fb661&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" alt=\"Then-U.S. Senate candidate Ron Hanks speaks during the GOP Assembly at the World Arena on April 9, 2022, in Colorado Springs. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun file)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Then-U.S. Senate candidate Ron Hanks speaks during the GOP Assembly at the World Arena on April 9, 2022, in Colorado Springs. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun file)<\/span><span class=\"credit\">cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>Republicans are clearly worried that the Democratic strategy to help Hanks may work.<\/p>\n<p>The Congressional Leadership Fund, a group tied to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, is starting to air TV and radio ads in the 3rd District attacking Hanks for benefiting from the Rocky Mountain Values PAC spending and labeling him as a \u201cliberal\u201d who isn\u2019t loyal enough to Trump. Hanks was one of the most conservative members of the Legislature when he was a state representative and he\u2019s promising to be a top Trump ally in Congress should he win in the 3rd District.<\/p>\n<p>The CLF has spent about $325,000 to air its ads, according to the media tracking company AdImpact.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZKu3fLvOG7A\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cWhy are Democrat mega donors spending so much to prop up Ron Hanks\u2019 campaign? Republicans, beware,\u201d said Courtney Parella, communications director for the CLF.<\/p>\n<p>The National Republican Congressional Committee, the U.S. House Republican campaign arm, meanwhile, attacked Frisch for his TV ad campaign.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdam Frisch\u2019s gutter-politics play reveals one thing: He can\u2019t win unless he plays dirty,\u201d said Delanie Bomar, a regional spokeswoman for the group. \u201cRepublicans must stand united to denounce Democrats\u2019 pathetic primary meddling \u2013 because Republicans should pick our party\u2019s nominee, not Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hurd has been endorsed by a list of big-name Colorado Republicans and has the financial backing of a major national conservative group, Americans For Prosperity Action. He is seen as a leading contender in the crowded primary.<\/p>\n<p>Carbondale investor Russ Andrews, another Republican primary candidate in the 3rd District, is also airing a TV ad attacking Hurd, calling him an \u201cIvy League lawyer\u201d who\u2019s disloyal to Trump. Andrews has spent at least $70,000 to air the ads.<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-a2c22e020b99954c891e7869de9bad30\">Colorado Sun staff writer Sandra Fish contributed to this report<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/coloradosun.com\/\" id=\"link-0a2ac9b4a60ab104080de0204aa86bac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em id=\"emphasis-9da6f47e48f67094a0d0d1fb5f80fc1e\">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":"<p>Strategy an apparent attempt to shape race and give himself a better chance to win in November<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[981,233,663,266,28,826,774,1126,1722,1304],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-27076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-3rd-congressional-district","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-democratic-party","tag-election","tag-headlines","tag-political-campaigns","tag-political-candidates","tag-politics-general","tag-regional-elections","tag-republican-party"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27076","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=27076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79675,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27076\/revisions\/79675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27076"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=27076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}