2026 Colorado's 3rd Congressional District Election
Compare candidates’ positions, polling, and sourced race updates.
About this race
Colorado's 3rd Congressional District — spanning the Western Slope and Southern Colorado, including Grand Junction, Pueblo, and Montrose — is one of the state's most competitive U.S. House races in 2026. Freshman Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd, a Grand Junction attorney first elected in 2024, faces Democrat Dwayne Romero, an Army veteran and former Aspen city councilman and Colorado economic development director, along with Libertarian Cory Robertson and unaffiliated candidate Clifton Brown in the November 3 general election.
The district has been represented by Republicans since 2011 and leans Republican, though its mix of rural, tourism, agricultural, and energy communities makes it closely watched; as of Sept. 1, 2026, active voter registration stood at 253,443 unaffiliated, 146,977 Republicans, and 105,631 Democrats. Hurd and Romero debated at the Club 20 Western Colorado candidate forum in Grand Junction on Sept. 19, 2026, and both answered voter-guide questionnaires in early October, with Hurd emphasizing independence and pragmatism and Romero emphasizing affordability, water and public lands, and anti-corruption measures.
Candidates
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Jeff Hurd is the incumbent Republican U.S. Representative for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, first elected in 2024 after former Rep. Lauren Boebert left the district. A Grand Junction attorney and former rural electric cooperative lawyer, he serves on the House Committees on Natural Resources, Science, Space and Technology, and Transportation and Infrastructure, and won the June 30, 2026 Republican primary over Ron Hanks. In his reelection bid he emphasizes independence and pragmatism, citing his work to unfreeze a $40 million federal grant for the Shoshone water rights project and his breaks with the Trump administration on tariff policy, while prioritizing cost of living, healthcare reform, and restoring trust in Congress.
Dwayne Romero is the Democratic nominee for Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, an Aspen-area businessman and U.S. Army veteran who won the June 30, 2026 primary over Alex Kelloff. A West Point graduate and former Army Ranger who earned a Bronze Star in the Gulf War, he is president and CEO of The Romero Group, a Basalt-based real estate management company, and previously served on the Aspen City Council, the Aspen school board, and as Colorado's director of economic development. He campaigns on lowering the cost of living by repealing tariffs, protecting Colorado water and public lands, and anti-corruption measures such as banning congressional stock trading and limiting dark money.
Clifton Brown is an unaffiliated candidate running for U.S. House in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District. A retired carpenter from Aguilar in Las Animas County, he describes himself as a "compassionate conservative" and says he decided to run after seeing masked men detain immigrants and citizens. He presents his candidacy as an alternative to the two-party system, with a platform that includes ending all foreign wars, promoting a 32-hour workweek, enacting universal health care, and protecting rural water rights and agriculture; he did not return the Denver Post candidate questionnaire.
Cory Robertson is the Libertarian Party nominee for U.S. House in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, nominated at the Colorado Libertarian Party's April 2026 convention for the November 3, 2026 general election. A longtime Colorado resident from Aurora and a stay-at-home father who says he has served on local county and state boards, he lists his top priorities as stopping money printing, ending lobbying, and building a coalition to repeal laws that infringe individual liberties. His platform also calls for dissolving ICE, releasing federal land to the states, repealing Affordable Care Act mandates, and ending bulk data collection.
Forecast
Jeff Hurd favored
Jeff Hurd: 72% modeled win probability with a +5.0 pts estimated margin
Polling
3 polls, newest firstAbout this research
Data compiled from public sources and analyzed using AI. Last updated October 10, 2026. Visit candidate websites for the most current information.