Jeff Hurd

COLORADO DISTRICT 3, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado's Third Congressional District is up for grabs.

Republican incumbent Jeff Hurd is seeking a second term, running against Democratic candidate Dwayne Romero.

A Democrat hasn't represented CD3 since John Salazar left office in January of 2011. Both candidates told KRDO13 they are feeling optimistic heading into election night.

"I'm optimistic because we've worked really hard to earn people's trust. I have shown up across this district, and I've focused on the issues that affect everyday lives of the people in this awesome district," Hurd said.

"It boils down to three things," Romero said. "One, the energy and the momentum that we've gained through the course of the last eight months. "Number two, there's a bit of a frustration, a dissatisfaction, with the way the administration has led for the last 22 months. And number three... our current legislator has failed to kind of fulfill the promises that he made back a couple of years ago when he was running on this campaign."

The race for CD3 has been tight in recent years. Internal Democratic polling showed Romero with a 1-point lead over Hurd, prompting Democrats to pump money into the race. Romero is hoping to capitalize on what could be a Democratic blue wave. He's criticized Hurd for supporting the Big Beautiful Bill and the diesel costs tied to the war in Iran.

Hurd has touted his record of being an independent who has drawn President Trump's criticism in the past. He broke with the President on tariff policy. At one point, the President pulled his endorsement of Hurd. Hurd has since regained that endorsement.

KRDO13 asked both candidates what they heard from Pueblo voters about the issues that matter most to residents.

"In Pueblo, I heard clearly about the pressure grocery bills, housing, utilities, health care, public safety issues, families needing their paychecks to go further," Hurd said.

"Protection of our natural resources," Romero said. "On the affordability, it's super, super powerful to say a lot of folks have been kicked off their health care. So we gotta fight like hell to make sure we get people back into a safe space, try to stabilize a lot of our rural clinics, and then focus on growing from there."

For more on where the two candidates stand on the issues, click here.

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Danny Mata is a sports anchor/reporter for KRDO. Learn more about Danny here.

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