These six Republicans have qualified for the primary to replace Lauren Boebert
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Rep. Lauren Boebert would have already faced some primary opponents if she stayed in the running for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District, but she announced late last year she was relocating to CO-4.
About a dozen Republicans expressed official interest in the GOP contest to replace Boebert, but six contenders have made it to the June primary ballots.
Whoever wins the Republican primary in June will face Democrat Adam Frisch, the only candidate remaining in the Democratic contest. Frisch also won the district primary two years ago and lost by 546 votes to Boebert in November 2022.
Who got on the ballot from the county assembly?
Candidates have three ways of getting onto primary ballots: they can get support from at least 30% of delegates at the district assembly, collect signatures from valid voters in the district, or do a hybrid route of collecting signatures and obtaining support from at least 10% of the assembly delegates.
Puebloan Stephen Varela, now serving as the representative of CO-3 on the state’s board of education, won the most support at the assembly earlier this month and will be the top-listed candidate on the ballot.
Ron Hanks, a former state legislator, also qualified for the ballot solely through the county assembly.
Russ Andrews, a businessman from Carbondale, is the only candidate who got onto the ballot with the hybrid method. He received support from approximately 17% of the delegates at the assembly and also collected enough valid signatures.
"It's important for us to support the mechanisms of our conservative grassroots party and show respect for the hard work our delegates put into maintaining our party’s vitality," Andrews said in a press release.
Who petitioned onto the ballot?
Three other candidates also qualified for the ballot by collecting ample petition signatures.
Jeff Hurd, an attorney from Grand Junction, has raised the most cash among the Republican candidates in the race, according to the most current campaign finance data.
Delta businessman Curtis McCrackin was the first Republican candidate in CO-3 to submit signatures — over three weeks before the deadline — and the first candidate who officially qualified for the ballot.
Lew Webb, who lives in Durango, also submitted enough petition signatures to make it to the ballot.
Joe Gradano of Fruita failed to collect enough valid signatures, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office announced Thursday.
The Republican primary election that includes the candidates for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District will be held on Tuesday, June 25.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics at the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftian.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Who is running in the Republican primary to replace Lauren Boebert?
