One of the Republicans seeking the nomination in Colorado’s newly created 8th Congressional District on Thursday called out a primary opponent who hasn’t pledged to support a constitutional amendment to establish term congressional term limits.

Thornton Mayor Jan Kulmann issued a statement urging state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, to sign the pledge sponsored by the national nonpartisan organization U.S. Term Limits, noting that Kulmann and three other candidates in the race have signed on to the pledge.

A spokesman for Kirkmeyer dismissed Kulmann’s attack, saying the candidate supports federal term limits but doesn’t plan to take a “hollow” pledge.

Kulmann and Kirkmeyer are among five Republican candidates running in the district, which covers portions of Adams, Weld and Larimer counties and is considered among the top battleground seats in the country this year.

“Colorado is no stranger to these types,” Kulmann said in a release. “Too many people have spent decades running for political office and yet, not all of the CD-08 candidates have supported term limits during this run for Congress.”

Noting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been in office for 35 years, Kulmann asked why Kirkmeyer likely wants Pelosi to face term limits but isn’t imposing them on herself.

“I urge all Republican candidates running for Congress in Colorado to get on board,” Kulmann said. “Join me Barb! Sign the term limits pledge.”

Kirkmeyer spokesman Alan Philp shrugged at the demand.

“Barb will enthusiastically support term limits for members of Congress, but those rules should apply to all members in all 50 states,” he told Colorado Politics in an email. “Candidates frequently take hollow pledges not to serve more than three terms and then pull a switcheroo on voters. Barb will not participate in such fraud.”

The pledge, which has been signed by more than 90 members of Congress, involves co-sponsoring and voting for an amendment limiting House members to three terms and senators to two terms.

Two of the other GOP candidates for the 8th CD seat – Weld County Commissioner Lori Saine and first-time candidate Tyler Allcorn – have signed the pledge, according to U.S. Term Limits. So has Adams County Commissioner Charles “Chaz” Tedesco, one of the Democrats running in the 8th CD.

Republican Giulianna “Jewels” Gray, a business owner and political novice, and Democrat Yadira Caraveo, a pediatrician and state representative from Thornton, who are both running in the district, haven’t signed the pledge.

Colorado imposes term limits on state- and county-level elected officials – generally amounting to eight years or four terms for officials elected to two-year terms, and two terms for those who serve four-year terms.

The limits have been in place since voters overwhelmingly approved a statewide ballot measure establishing term limits in the early 1990s, sparking the national term limits movement. Another Colorado measure setting term limits for members of Congress was passed by voters but later ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.