National Democrats now think there’s a possibility they could flip all four of the Colorado congressional districts held by Republicans this year.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Wednesday added Colorado’s 3rd and 4th congressional districts to its list of “districts in play” this year. They are held by Republican U.S. Reps. Jeff Hurd of Grand Junction and Lauren Boebert of Windsor.
Until now, those districts appeared totally out of reach for Democrats.
The DCCC is already invested in trying to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans of Fort Lupton in the 8th Congressional District and Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank of Colorado Springs in the 5th Congressional District.
And Democrats have a firm hold on the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th congressional districts in Colorado.
The districts in play designation comes with candidate guidance and messaging help from the DCCC, though not necessarily funding. Money could come later.
But the DCCC believes the 3rd and 4th districts can no longer be ignored by national Republicans in their battle to retain control of Congress.
Democrats would count it as a win if their candidates lose in the 3rd and 4th districts if the GOP has to spend any money trying to protect Boebert and Hurd. That’s because those would be dollars Republicans wouldn’t have to spend elsewhere in Colorado and across the country.
The DCCC’s changing outlook is mainly due to the national political environment. Democrats have been winning in special elections across the country and polling shows President Donald Trump’s popularity is at its lowest level. Voters have signaled they are increasingly open to ousting Republican members of Congress.
There are also district-level indications Hurd and Boebert may be in trouble.
In the 3rd District, which spans the Western Slope into Pueblo and southeastern Colorado, Hurd’s Democratic challenger, former Aspen City Councilman Dwayne Romero, released an internal poll last week showing him down just 1 percentage point to Hurd with 9% of the electorate undecided.
The survey by Keating Research, a respected Democratic pollster, was conducted from July 21 to 23 among 500 likely November 2026 voters. It had a 4.4 percentage point margin of error, indicating the race is statistically tied.
Hurd beat Democrat Adam Frisch, also a former Aspen city councilman, by 5 percentage points in 2024.
In the 4th District, which stretches across the Eastern Plains and includes Douglas County, retired Navy Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher is trying to dislodge Boebert.
The 4th District is considered the most Republican friendly congressional district in Colorado, but the DCCC sees Douglas County’s trend toward Democrats and Boebert’s historic underperformance in her congressional races as a sign that Laubacher has a chance.
Laubacher, a first-time candidate, had raised roughly $10.3 million through the end of June. After spending about $6.6 million, her campaign had $3.6 million in the bank to start July.
Boebert, by comparison, has raised a fraction of that amount for her reelection bid. She had $250,000 in her campaign’s bank account to start July.
In 2024, Boebert beat Democrat Trisha Calvarese by nearly 12 percentage points. While that was a decisive victory, the last Republican to represent the district for an entire term, U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, won in 2022 by more than 24 percentage points.
The DCCC did not get involved in the 4th District race in 2024, though it did offer limited help to Frisch in the 3rd District.