{"id":27322,"date":"2024-06-07T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/republican-congressional-candidates-face-off-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:56:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:56:38","slug":"republican-congressional-candidates-face-off-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/republican-congressional-candidates-face-off-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Republican congressional candidates face off in Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Colorado\u2019s
Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District Republican candidates from left, Ron Hanks, Curtis McCrackin, Lew Webb, Russ Andrews and Stephan Varela attend a debate Tuesday evening hosted by the La Plata County Republican Central Committee at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Candidates have a similar message, but varying modes and styles of communication. That seemed to be voters\u2019 primary take-away after Tuesday\u2019s debate among five of the six Republican candidates running for the GOP spot in the 3rd Congressional District race.<\/p>\n

In a generally cordial rhetorical volley, candidates Stephen Varela, Ron Hanks, Lew Webb, Russ Andrews and Curtis McCrackin took 90-second turns to address voters\u2019 concerns, which ranged from water conservation and management to gun control to state and national party leadership.<\/p>\n

Four of the five candidates agreed to support the winner of the GOP nomination; Hanks, to a reception of \u201cboos\u201d from the audience, said \u201cit depends on who it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeff Hurd could not attend because of a scheduling conflict. The candidate took some heat about his absence from candidates and audience members. A spokesman for the campaign declined to provide more details on the conflict that prevented Hurd\u2019s attendance.<\/p>\n

\"Amber
Amber Morris listens to Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District Republican candidates Tuesday. The debate was hosted by the La Plata County Republican Central Committee at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The debate, hosted by the La Plata County Republican Central Committee at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 in Durango, lasted more than two hours and was attended by about 100 people in-person, and about 160 people online.<\/p>\n

Former committee chairman Travis Oliger and former County Commissioner Brad Blake moderated the event.<\/p>\n

The winner of the June 25 primary will face off with presumptive Democratic nominee Adam Frisch, the former Aspen city councilor who came within 546 votes of unseating Rep. Lauren Boebert in 2022. Boebert opted to run in Colorado\u2019s 4th Congressional District, to the east, where Republicans have an even stronger base.<\/p>\n

\n

Who are the CD3 Republicans?<\/h4>\n

Stephen Varela, <\/strong>39, of Pueblo, represents the 3rd Congressional District on the Colorado Board of Education. He served in the U.S. Army in Iraq.<\/p>\n

Ron Hanks, <\/strong>59, of Grand Junction, is a former one-term state House member. He spent 32 years in the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\n

Lew Webb, <\/strong>65, of Durango, left California in the 1990s after selling a family auto dealership business. He and his family built a ministry lodge for evangelical pastors.<\/p>\n

Russ Andrews, <\/strong>66, of Carbondale, is financial adviser, a former engineer and a political radio talk show host.<\/p>\n

Curtis McCrackin, <\/strong>62, of Cedaredge, is a business owner who has managed and overseen real estate and general contracting companies.<\/p>\n

Jeff Hurd, <\/strong>44, of Grand Junction, is a commercial and regulatory attorney.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How to stand out in a field of six<\/div>\n

With a crowded field, the candidates hammered on concise, specific messages in an effort to distinguish themselves from one another.<\/p>\n

Varela, who has been targeted by some of his opponents over his past membership of the Democratic Party, spent much of the night talking up his conservative bona fides.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started off as a Democrat, like Reagan, like Trump, like many others \u2013 Lauren Boebert,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Although often brief in his responses, Varela pulled out several of the talking points addressing now-ubiquitous GOP issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to have a military to serve and protect us because they are confusing our boys in school with being girls, and our girls vice-a-versa,\u201d he said, outlining his biggest fear for the nation. \u201cThey are destroying every single thing that has made us American.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanks tried to position himself as the definitive MAGA candidate. He has done so effectively, such that a Democratic dark money group began to run ads boosting his campaign<\/a>, under the assumption that his extremism would make him easier to beat.<\/p>\n

\"Colorado\u2019s
Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District Republican candidates debated Tuesday evening at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 in Durango. A little more than 100 people gathered for the debate. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

During the debate, Hanks repeatedly referenced the \u201cdeep state,\u201d called the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol a \u201cpeaceful protest,\u201d and said he thinks former President Donald Trump will be reelected in November and will need a \u201cconservative Congress that does not sandbag him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webb sought to stake his claim on the \u201coutsider\u201d identity, noting that his background is in business as he made an overt comparison between himself and Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur government is totally corrupt,\u201d he said. \u201cI am not going to Washington, D.C., to make friends, to get along, to reach across the aisle or to compromise. I\u2019m going to Washington, D.C., to pick a fight \u2013 a big one, one that we all have to win. Papaw is going to Washington, D.C., and they\u2019re not gonna like me very much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrews relied on a folksy persona imbued with hard-line conservatism in his pitch.<\/p>\n

He asked attendees to raise their hands if they owned a gas stove, a truck, a firearm or a bible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got bad news for you, folks,\u201d he said to the room full of raised hands. \u201cThey\u2019re coming for your truck, they\u2019re coming for your gas stove, they\u2019re definitely coming for your firearms, they don\u2019t have much use for Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Allen
Allen Maez keeps time during the Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District Republican candidates debate on Tuesday in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

He also pitched a slate of unconventional ideas, which included a proposal to incentivize small-scale harvest of beetle-kill timber by introducing broad tax breaks to increase forest and watershed health.<\/p>\n

McCrackin made himself out to be the moderate of the evening.<\/p>\n

His pitch focused almost entirely on fiscal responsibility and the need to draw back federal spending. He proposed a constitutional amendment to mandate that Congress balance the country\u2019s budget, 12-year term limits for members of Congress, and he said he would seek to do away with the 1906 Antiquities Act, which gives the president sole power to establish a national monument (some regional leaders within the district have decried the potential use of the act on parts of the Dolores River).<\/p>\n

More than any other candidate, however, McCrackin\u2019s message focused on respect, at one point going so far as to implicitly call out a lack thereof within the party. (He saw the same among Democrats, he added.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would somebody 18 years old today join the Republican Party?\u201d he asked. \u201cI would look at the Republican Party and go, \u2018These people are crazy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

On the issues<\/div>\n

When asked whether they would support mandatory gun safety training when applying for a concealed carry permit, McCrackin and Webb indicated they would support such training. Andrews, Varela and Hanks said they would not.<\/p>\n

All five candidates indicated they would stand behind Israel and the military aid the U.S. gives it.<\/p>\n

Hanks and Andrews were the only two candidates who definitively said they would join the Freedom Caucus if elected, a group of far-right representatives. Webb and McCrackin indicated they would need to learn more about the group, and Varela did not answer the question.<\/p>\n

\"Brad
Brad Blake, left, and Travis Oliger were the moderators for a debate among Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District Republican candidates Tuesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The candidates had a wide range of ideas when it came to addressing water, and the lack thereof.<\/p>\n

Hanks said he sees a need for more water storage, while McCrackin suggested the use of conservation easements.<\/p>\n

Webb and Andrews both made mention of the need for healthier forests.<\/p>\n

Varela said he\u2019s \u201ca little bit more ambitious when it comes to water,\u201d and said he would propose saving water in the upper Colorado River Basin by building desalination plants on the Gulf of Mexico and forcing lower basin states to pay for it. He recognized that the cost is high \u2013 prohibitively so, many experts say <\/a>\u2013 but he called the proposal a move toward long-term sustainability.<\/p>\n

With respect to the state party, which broke from previous norms and endorsed Hanks in accordance with a rule change that allows leaders to back candidates in contested races, <\/a>Hanks\u2019 four opponents called the party \u201ccorrupt,\u201d called the move \u201cinappropriate,\u201d and said state party had \u201cabandoned its principles\u201d and lost its way a little bit.<\/p>\n

Voters ponder: Who do you like best?<\/div>\n

In huddled conversations after the debate, many voters said they were impressed by the candidates.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s consistent on the policies, pretty much,\u201d said David Qualls, who lives south of Durango. \u201cEverybody hates the invasion of the country. Everybody hates the spending, so we\u2019re united on all of that. The variance of issues is not really that big, so it\u2019s a matter, really, of selecting who you think you like the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A little over a hundred people attended a debate among Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District Republican candidates Tuesday in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For Qualls, that candidate was Varela.<\/p>\n

But for some others, Hanks\u2019 rhetoric was most effective.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am leaning strongly toward Ron (Hanks),\u201d said Valeria Maez of Montezuma County. \u201cI think he\u2019s a very conservative guy and he\u2019s absolutely right about the current administration and the trouble we\u2019re in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maez said Hanks was \u201cabsolutely right\u201d about the border \u2013 he said during the debate, with little factual basis, that the Biden administration has allowed \u201cbrigade-size forces of Hezbollah, Hamas, al-Qaida\u201d to enter the country.<\/p>\n

\"Odis
Odis Sikes listens to Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District Republican candidates during a debate Tuesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Sheryle Hunter of Ignacio said she too was swayed by the way Hanks spoke of the \u201cinvasion\u201d at the border, and would likely vote for him.<\/p>\n

Standing near Hunter, Cathy Patterson said she would vote for Webb.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met him at a meeting and Lew said he would not bend,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

McCrackin was the only candidate to highlight a willingness to work across the aisle \u2013 something that has become increasingly necessary as the Republican majority in the House has slimmed. But Patterson said that wasn\u2019t important to her.<\/p>\n

However, the possibility that Congress gets nothing done \u201cjust turns my stomach,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ballots must be received by 7 p.m. June 25.<\/p>\n

rschafir@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Dave
Dave Peters, chairman of the La Plata County Republicans, speaks before the start of the Colorado 3rd Congressional District Republican candidates debate on Tuesday at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4031 in Durango. The debate was hosted by the La Plata County Republican Central Committee. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A candidates debate among Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District Republican candidates was livestreamed on Tuesday in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Some
Some audience members protested candidates who participated in Tuesday\u2019s debate. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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