Republican Jeff Hurd won support for his primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert this week from former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens.

Owens, the state’s only GOP governor elected in the last 50 years, cited the Grand Junction attorney’s character, values and integrity in his endorsement.

Boebert, a Silt Republican, is seeking a third term representing the sprawling 3rd Congressional District. She’s facing challenges from two Republicans and two Democrats, including Adam Frisch, the former Aspen City Council member who came within fewer than 600 votes of beating her last year in the closest House race in the country.

“I am proud to endorse Jeff Hurd for US Congress for the 3rd district,” Owens said in a statement. “Jeff is a man of character. He is a hardworking, smart and sincere leader who will deliver for the district. He will fight for our agricultural community and ranchers, to protect our Colorado water, to combat inflation, and push for our energy independence.”

Added Owens: “Values, integrity and principled leadership matter, and Jeff will never let us down.”

In a statement thanking Owens for his endorsement, Hurd said the former official “served us with honor and integrity, and I hope to do the same for this district.”

Owens served two terms as governor from 1999 to 2007 after representing parts of Arapahoe County in the legislature and serving two terms as state treasurer.

Once considered a rising Republican star on the national stage, Owens drew criticism from the party’s hardliners nearly two decades ago when he joined with Democrats in the final years of his administration to support a statewide ballot measure that temporarily lifted spending caps under the state’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.

He hasn’t shied away from taking on members of his own party.

Owens was among numerous leading Colorado Republicans who broke with Donald Trump in October 2015, following release of the “Access Hollywood” audio tape. In a social media post, Owens called the party’s presidential nominee a “charlatan” and said the GOP had been “temporarily captured by a narcissist who will throw us aside after doing his best to destroy us.”

In late November 2020, Owens called on Trump to concede the presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden in a social media post.

“As much as some might not want to admit, the system worked,” Owens wrote. “For the good of the country and our democracy, President Trump needs to respect the will of the voters, accede to the wishes of the electorate, and help prepare the way for the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden.”

Last year, Owens endorsed GOP gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl and U.S. Senate candidate Joe O’Dea, who both won their primaries but lost the general election to the Democratic incumbents, Gov. Jared Polis and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, respectively.

A senior director at international law and lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig, Owens is the latest of several prominent Colorado Republicans to back Hurd, who jumped in the primary in August.

Earlier this month, Hurd won endorsements from Delta County Commissioner Don Suppes and Mesa County commissioners Cody Davis and Bobbie Daniel. The Republicans each pointed to Boebert’s behavior in September at a Denver theater, where she was ejected from a performance of “Beetlejuice: The Musical,” as a reason for backing her primary challenger.

Other Hurd supporters include former U.S. Sen. Hank Brown; former Mesa State University President Tim Foster; former Colorado Attorney General and Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers; and former University of Colorado President Bruce Benson.

The 3rd CD covers most of the Western Slope and Southern Colorado, including Pueblo County and the San Luis Valley.

While the seat leans toward Republicans – and hasn’t elected a Democrat since 2008 – Frisch nearly unseated Boebert in 2022, falling short by a margin slim enough to require a recount.

This year, Frisch has raised nearly three times as much as Boebert and was the top Democratic fundraiser among House candidates nationwide in the most recent quarter. Recent polling by Democratic firms shows a neck-and-neck race between Boebert and Frisch.

Republican Russ Andrews and Democrat Anna Stout, the mayor of Grand Junction, are also seeking their party’s nominations in the district. A handful of third-party candidates are also running.