Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District Race heats up: Jeff Hurd vs. Dwayne Romero
COLORADO DISTRICT 3, Colo. (KRDO) -- With election day fast approaching and early voting already underway, the race in Colorado's Third Congressional District is heating up. Republican Incumbent Jeff Hurd is seeking a second term, while Democratic challenger Dwayne Romero is hoping to earn a first term. KRDO13 spoke to each candidate about the issues facing Colorado voters.
Colorado's 3rd Congressional District encompasses Pueblo and most of southern Colorado. Among those voters, health care has proven to be a very prominent issue.
As of March of 2025, over a third of Pueblo County residents were on Medicaid, according to the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.
President Donald Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill" is projected to cut nearly a trillion dollars from Medicaid by 2034, according to ABC News.
Incumbent Congressman Jeff Hurd supported the bill and argues he supports protecting Medicaid for those who need it most, but his opponent, Democratic nominee Dwayne Romero, says the cuts did more harm than good.
"I'm talking about children, pregnant moms, the disabled, low-income senior citizens. And the work requirements that we talked about in Congress, they're pretty common-sense, reasonable", said Rep. Jeff Hurd.
But Romero says the "Big Beautiful Bill" is already impacting Coloradans negatively, and will continue to do so.
"It was cut in a measure to provide funding streams for the tax cuts at the top 1% of our income and our brackets that are billionaires, and the corporate taxes as well," said Romero.
Rep. Hurd points to his bipartisanship as an asset, and while he has President Trump's endorsement now, he says he also had the endorsement pulled in the past.
"I say so when I disagree with him, when it's in the better interest of my district to stand up and say, ' This isn't right. ' I've been willing to do that," said Rep. Hurd.
Romero points to Hurd's voting records as evidence that when it comes down to it, Representative Hurd almost always sides with the President.
"The fact of the matter is 93% of the time he's voted with the president," said Romero.
Both candidates, however, agree on some issues, including the need for more transparency and accountability from federal immigration officials.
"I have opposed to ICE officers masking themselves. I think we should be able to identify federal law enforcement. Transparency is a good thing when it comes to law enforcement," said Rep. Hurd.
Romero had a similar perspective, saying, " ICE has become this rogue, unprofessional, untrained, unguided entity. And I believe right now we have an agency that's living above the law."
Congressman Hurd and Candidate Romero also shared similar views on Diesel, agreeing that prices must come down to help farmers in their district, and each spoke with KRDO13 about a sound strategy for ending the war in Iran.
Each candidate's full interview can be watched above.
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