Colorado’s 3rd District race is Adam Frisch against a Republican field

Supporters listen to Democratic candidate for Congress Adam Frisch at a town hall meeting during his run against U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District in October 2022. The 2024 race in the district has attracted less attention since Boebert opted to run for a different seat, but Frisch is back as the uncontested Democratic contender against a crowded GOP field. (Photo by William Woody/Special to The Denver Post)

Since U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert opted to change her address to one clear across the state late last year, the race for Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District has fallen out of the media glare that seemingly shines on the controversial Republican congresswoman wherever she goes.

But Colorado’s largest district by land mass — taking in Grand Junction, Gunnison, Durango and Pueblo — may prove a critical contest in a closely divided Congress where the major parties are always hungry to flip a seat. That’s true, a political observer said, even if a Democrat hasn’t represented the district since John Salazar lost the 2010 election to Scott Tipton.

One big reason: Adam Frisch.

The Democrat who came within 546 votes of unseating Boebert two years ago on the Western Slope now possesses solid name recognition, including outside Colorado, and “a massive advantage in campaign finance,” said Kyle Saunders, a political science professor at Colorado State University.

Even since Boebert announced her decision to switch to the open race in the 4th Congressional District on the Eastern Plains, Frisch — who’s unopposed in the June 25 primary — has outraised every other congressional candidate in the state.

“With the margin of control of the House of Representatives being so very close, every competitive seat should — and no doubt will — be contested vigorously,” Saunders said. “While CD3 is not the most competitive seat on that list, I still expect both sides to fully engage in fighting hard for it.”

In the generally L-shaped district, which stretches from lonely Kleins Hill in the northwest corner of the state to the tiny town of Kim in Las Animas County, southeast of Pueblo, the district’s biggest voter group — at nearly 230,000-strong — are those affiliated with no party.

But with the polarizing Boebert out, it’s possible the political dynamics will revert closer to normal. That would mean, Saunders said, that “a generic Republican beats a generic Democrat by seven points” in the 3rd District, which boasts 35,000 or so more active GOP voters than Democrats.

In November, Frisch, 56, a former Aspen city councilman, will face one of a half dozen candidates seeking the Republican nomination in June — including attorney Jeff Hurd, Colorado Board of Education member Stephen Varela and ultra-conservative former state lawmaker Ron Hanks.

The other GOP contenders are Russ Andrews, a Carbondale financial adviser; Curtis McCrackin, a Delta County businessman; and Lew Webb, a former car dealership owner who lives in Durango.

Frisch’s performance in 2022 revealed the second-term congresswoman’s vulnerability among voters who had grown tired of her…