January 13, 2025 12:08 PM UTC

After Lauren Boebert, It's Good To Be The "Bread Sandwich"

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• by: Colorado Pols

As part of their profile of newly sworn-in freshman members of Congress, MSNBC’s Sofia Hamilton profiled Republican Rep. Jeff “Bread Sandwich” Hurd, observing what’s it’s like to fill the shoes of his carpetbagging rival-turned-colleague Rep. Lauren Boebert:

For Colorado’s 3rd District, Hurd will surely be a breath of fresh air. The district was most recently represented by embattled Rep. Lauren Boebert, before she moved districts to escape a tough re-election bid made only more difficult by her many public controversies. Hurd acknowledged that his representation of Colorado would be a “different style” from Boebert’s. Specifically, Hurd’s campaign said he would not engage in the same “disgraceful behavior” that made Boebert unable “to deliver results for [the] district.” This is a hopeful sign for Coloradans and Americans everywhere that our days of outlandish political theater are ending.

Hurd says he intends to focus on issues integral to his rural district and the whole of America, such as supporting small businesses and agriculture, protecting natural resources and increasing energy development. Importantly, Hurd tends to not lean in hard on culture war issues. He is against abortion, for example, but believes in exceptions for rape, incest and life-or-death situations. Calling himself a “constitutionalist,” he says he’d vote against a federal ban on abortion at 15 weeks — preferring to leave the matter to the states. Instead, he plans to focus on issues of fundamental importance to everyday Americans, saying he intends to “be the principled, problem-solving Republican leader that Colorado needs.”

It’s the sort of inoffensive conservative branding that Hurd’s and Boebert’s predecessor former Rep. “Somnolent” Scott Tipton would have been proud to put his name on, and with victory in hand Hurd has the opportunity to serve in a similar relatively no-drama fashion. It was “Boebert fatigue” that propelled Hurd into the 2024 GOP primary and ultimately forced Boebert to make her risky decision to switch districts. Boebert is unlikely to ever forget the things Hurd said about her while they were opponents, but for now they can share the back benches in uneasy peace. As Boebert’s controversies carry on in the new Congress, we expect Hurd to be regularly hit up for comment.

It’s not that expectations are high for Hurd. Boebert lowered expectations enough that any relatively normal person succeeding her looks like an elder statesman. It may not lead to a lengthy honeymoon in this crazy new Congress, but at least Hurd gets a bit of one.