ALAMOSA — Jeff Hurd, Republican candidate for CD3, was at Juanito’s Restaurant on Highway 160 Friday night introducing himself to a group of fellow Republicans in the district and asking for their vote. A number of Republican elected officials – former and current – were on hand, as well, to make public their endorsement of the attorney from Grand Junction who hopes to continue the succession of Republicans representing CD3 in Congress.
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ALAMOSA — Jeff Hurd, Republican candidate for CD3, was at Juanito’s Restaurant on Highway 160 Friday night introducing himself to a group of fellow Republicans in the district and asking for their vote. A number of Republican elected officials – former and current – were on hand, as well, to make public their endorsement of the attorney from Grand Junction who hopes to continue the succession of Republicans representing CD3 in Congress.
Former Alamosa County Commissioner Darius Allen took the floor and got things going.
“Jeff Hurd is a good family man,” he said. “A good American and he’ll do good for the district. We don’t want to be represented by someone from Aspen who doesn’t know the San Luis Valley or southern Colorado. We want someone who knows what we’re about.”
Allen then turned it over to State Senator Cleave Simpson who praised Hurd for reaching out to him, coming to his office on multiple occasions to learn about water and the area. “Unequivocally, Jeff has committed to me that he will stand arm in arm with us,” in opposing the export of water. Simpson went on to describe him as a man of great character.
Alamosa County Commissioner Lori Laske said she had done her research and learned what she needed to know about Hurd but, most importantly, “He’s a good person, a decent human being with strong morals and a strong soul.” She also feels that he will do good things for Alamosa.
Hurd said he was running because there are two Colorados - one in the northern part of the Front Range “where they import jobs, money and opportunity,” and the rest of Colorado where “we export our kids. They leave and they don’t come back.”
Hurd then talked about the crucial importance of the seat in Congress as “it’s one of seventeen seats being targeted by the Democrats. This seat is ground zero. The district is plus seven – we should be able to hold it.”
Early on in his comments, he brought up his opponent, Adam Frisch, who had raised significant money. “But dollars don’t vote,” he said, “people do. And I need your help in getting the word out.”
Hurd described himself as authentic, a Colorado native, a small business owner who represents rural electric companies and does not want to spend the rest of his life in politics.
One of the first questions he was asked was if he would stand with President Trump. Hurd responded, “President Trump will have no greater advocate than me on the issues.” In a later conversation with the Valley Courier, he was asked to expand on that answer and said he believes politics is too myopic and focused on personalities. “I want to bring the conversation back to the issues. That’s where I want to place my focus.”
He then recalled being heckled during a debate so much that he couldn’t speak. “I minded that I couldn’t speak but I didn’t mind them expressing their opinions. That’s their right. I believe in the Constitution first and my district second.”
Hurd told the group that “Democrats are regulating rural communities into poverty.”
When asked for specifics, he cited greenhouse gas regulations in Colorado that require an 80% reduction in baseline levels by 2030 and mining regulations that are short-sighted. “If you genuinely care about renewables and greenhouse gas, you ought to support getting as much energy out of Colorado as we can because we do it more responsibly than anyone. We’re passing regulations that shut down power stations in Pueblo and Craig. We’re losing good jobs in plants and mining and pushing that demand beyond our state borders. And inhibiting natural gas means the Chinese will also be mining more coal. My opponent says ‘all of the above.’ I say the best of the above.”
His priorities include, first and foremost, securing the border, telling the Valley Courier he supports building the wall and improving detection systems, including at the ports of entry. But, as someone who describes himself as “pro-immigrant,” he also believes in the importance of legal immigration — his wife is an immigrant from Czechoslovakia. He “will not be talking about mass deportation,” and believes criminal immigrants should be deported but also would support a “red card” system where people who are here working and living illegally are provided a path to do that legally and then return to their home country. He also supports Dreamers’ path to citizenship.
Protecting agricultural water is also crucial. “I would rather grow potatoes, barley and alfalfa than houses on the Front Range.”
A third priority is growing the economy.
Hurd willingly admits that campaigning is “surreal” and that his family does not want to move to D.C. But he also originally ran to oppose Lauren Boebert for the nomination and to bring the conversation back to issues. He is committed to “offering the best he can toward that effort.”