From the February 21, 2026 issue of the New York Times.
It looks like Trump is making it easier for Democrats to flip CD3 blue.
The New York Timessays Trump un-endorsing CD3 House Rep. Jeff Hurd in favor of a far more extreme right wing Republican candidate for that seat, Hope Scheppelman, may make it easier for Democrats to flip Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District blue in the mid-term elections this November.
In the Feb. 21 issue of the New York Times, reporters Megan Mineiro and Tim Balk, who cover Congress, wrote,
President Trump on Saturday withdrew his endorsement of Representative Jeff Hurd of Colorado, punishing a Republican who opposed his tariffs in a move that could further imperil his party’s chances of keeping control of the House in November’s midterm elections.
They added that,
The president’s vengeful maneuver injected an element of uncertainty into what was already expected to be a competitive race in Mr. Hurd’s Republican-leaning Western and Southern Colorado district. It also signaled that Mr. Trump’s tariffs — and his demand that Republicans support them — are likely to continue to be a vexing issue for his party in midterm elections in which they already have an uphill fight to keep control of Congress.
Alex Kelloff, the Democratic candidate for CD-3. His chances of winning are looking better and better. (Photo: Facebook)
That position appears to have enraged Mr. Trump, who said in his own post on Saturday Mr. Hurd “is more interested in protecting Foreign Countries that have been ripping us off for decades than he is the United States of America.”
and
“Dick Wadhams, a Republican strategist in Colorado and a former Republican Party chairman in the state, described Ms. Scheppelman as a “very divisive” figure who was deeply invested in 2020 election conspiracies.
“The fact is,” he said in an interview on Saturday, “if she is the Republican nominee in the Third District, Democrats will win that district.”
Allen Fuller, a Colorado Republican consultant, said in a statement that Ms. Scheppelman was “a limited candidate with a limited base, limited runway, and limited options.”
C.J. Warnke, a spokesman for the House Majority PAC, the political action committee focused on electing Democrats, said the group “was looking forward to flipping Hurd’s seat blue in November, and Trump’s un-endorsement is speeding up that process.”
