Originally published on newsweek.com.
Representative Lauren Boebert‘s Republican challenger Jeff Hurd is going after the hallmark that contributed to getting her elected in the first place—her ability to garner national attention.
Hurd, a political newcomer, is one of three GOP candidates running against Boebert in the June 2024 primary for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. Soft-spoken and non-provocative, Hurd doesn’t share many traits with the conservative firebrand who rapidly rose to MAGA stardom five years ago.
Hurd told Newsweek that contrast is exactly what makes him the ideal Republican contender for voters in the district, who he says are tired of Boebert’s antics and want another House candidate that could help the party hold on to the right-leaning district.
“We need somebody who is sincere and hardworking, and who is focused on making local headlines, not national headlines,” he said in a Friday interview.
Boebert first made national headlines in 2019 when she confronted then-Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke at a local town hall about his gun safety proposals. She quickly emerged as a gun-rights activist who organized rallies that attracted the likes of the far-right Proud Boys before she announced her congressional campaign against five-term incumbent Scott Tipton in the GOP primary. During her campaign, she drew media attention for protesting Colorado’s COVID restrictions, expressing sympathy for QAnon conspiracy theories and vowing to carry a gun to the Capitol if she was elected. In 2020, she won the Republican nomination in a political upset.
As a congresswoman, Boebert has been one of former President Donald Trump‘s loyal allies and is widely considered one of the most conservative members of the Republican conference. She was among the GOP holdouts blocking Representative Kevin McCarthy from the speakership in January and has twice attempted to impeach President Joe Biden.
Newsweek has contacted Boebert’s campaign via email.
